Manchester United will have plenty of fitness concerns to sweat over in the run-up to their hosting of Watford on Saturday. Simply put, this international break has not been kind to them on the fitness front, with Eric Bailly the latest player to be concerned about the availability of.
The Ivory Coast centre-back was involved in a scary collision during the African Cup of Nations qualifier with Rwanda on Saturday and had to be subbed off. Bailly had scored the second goal of the match off a header.
Meanwhile Marcus Rashford was sent back to United home from the England squad this international break as he continues to battle against the ankle injury he suffered versus Liverpool. Fellow England international Jesse Lingard was deemed unfit to play for the national side in their double-header against Czech Republic and Montenegro, while defender Luke Shaw also had to withdraw from Three Lions.
At least Lingard is in Dubai right now and getting to do a lot of cool, fun things in the U.A.E.
Romelu Lukaku, who missed United’s last game due to injury, also missed Belgium’s pair of matches this break (more on that here) while Anthony Martial‘s knee problem prohibited his recall to the France squad.
Finally, Nemanja Matic, Vice-Captain of the Serbian National Team, withdrew from the squad due to injury. However, it appears to just be a precautionary measure, as Serbia coach Mladen Krstajic told the nation’s FA official website:
“Nemanja Matic will not play in Wolfsburg, nor in Lisbon. He played the last match for his club but did not stay on the field until the end.”
While the news on Matic seems promising, it remains to be seen who will be fit for United next weekend. That’s a total of seven players to keep an eye on as they all face a race to be fit in time.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.