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Wednesday 22 January 2025 13:20
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has provided a brief update on his squad, ahead of Thursday’s Europa League meeting with Rangers at Old Trafford.
United would take a big step towards confirming a place among the competition’s top eight teams – and therefore securing an automatic spot in the last 16 – with victory over the Glaswegians, who are in M16 for the first time since 2010.
The Reds are unbeaten in Europe this season, taking 12 points from our six games so far, and Rangers are a point behind in the inaugural league phase, the format having changed for 2024/25.
The two sides should therefore be closely matched and United have largely the same squad as in recent weeks.
Victor Lindelof has returned to training following a month-long absence, but Amorim wants to give him more time to work at Carrington before bringing him back into the fray.
Mason Mount and Luke Shaw have also been out in recent weeks and were not seen at Wednesday’s session, but they are working hard towards a return.
“Vic is training but I prefer to do extra work today because I want him for a long time, not just to put him [in] right away,” Amorim told MUTV’s Mark Sullivan.
“For the rest, Luke is recovering really well. Mason Mount, it’s good to see them on the pitch.
“[So] just Vic [back in training], but he’s not in the squad.”
Jonny Evans was also absent but Marcus Rashford trained, although the 27-year-old hasn’t featured for United since the 2-1 win over Viktoria Plzen in our last European outing.
“We expect a tough match, a lot of physicality during the game,” Ruben added, to reporters. “We know that some important players from Rangers will not play and we have to know the new players to understand the way that they play.
“They play with the full-backs really high on the pitch and they have talent to score in the final thirds.
“It is one more difficult game but it is important for us because we want to keep in the play-offs and we need to have that [extra] time to train. I expect the same thing we faced in the last games, a really tough match, a lot of physicality and also the fans from Rangers making some noise.
“So we are prepared, our fans are prepared and we want to win.”
RANGERS TEAM NEWS
Gers’ boss Philippe Clement will hold his pre-match press conference at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening, and there are several doubts around the visitors’ squad.
Former United players Jack Butland (leg) and Tom Lawrence (hamstring) have been absent in recent weeks due to injury, while Oscar Cortes missed Sunday’s 5-0 Scottish Cup win over Fraserburgh with a small issue.
Key defenders John Souttar and Dujon Sterling have also been missing, and midfielder Mohamed Diomande is suspended, having picked up three bookings already in this season’s competition.
Danilo has a shoulder injury but is ineligible regardless. Rafael Fernandes, Ianis Hagi, Rabbi Matondo and Clinton Nsiala have also not been registered in the Europa League group.
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Wednesday 22 January 2025 13:20
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