Manchester United Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Everton

The Red Devils are aiming to maintain their fine start to the season as club legend Wayne Rooney returns to Old Trafford

Sitting top of the Premier League table after four fixtures and with a Champions League victory under their belts, it has been a strong start to the season for Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.

Despite drawing against Stoke last weekend, the Red Devils bounced back impressively against Basel, securing a 3-0 victory to mark their return to Europe’s elite competition.

Next up for the Old Trafford side is a visit from Everton, who will boast Wayne Rooney among their ranks.

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Mourinho’s men are aiming to make it a miserable return to Old Trafford for their record goalscorer and former captain as they aim to preserve their place above neighbours City at the top of the standings.

MAN UTD INJURIES

Paul Pogba is liable to be out for six weeks with a hamstring problem sustained in midweek. Manager Jose Mourinho is reportedly angry with the manner in which the Frenchman has managed the problem since sustaining a similar issue last term.

Next matches

Marcos Rojo continues to recover from an ACL injury, which is expected to keep him out until the end of the year. Meanwhile, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is fighting a similar problem, although the Swede has refused to put a date on when he might return to fitness.

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MAN UTD SUSPENSIONS

Manchester United have no suspension issues prior to this encounter. They have no players a booking away from breaching the ban threshold either.

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POTENTIAL STARTING LINE UP

Phil Jones and Eric Bailly were both suspended in midweek but will return to action in this encounter. As a consequence, both Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof are liable to drop to the bench once more.

Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian will push to play in the full-back roles after the defence received a complete overhaul in midweek.

Marouane Fellaini will hope to replace Paul Pogba in the starting XI, having made a goalscoring entrance to the midweek match. He faces competition from Ander Herrera and club captain Michael Carrick, though.

Further forward, Marcus Rashford was another to come off the bench to good effect in midweek as he found the net on his Champions League debut. The England man has been in a rich seam of form at the start of the season and should be given the nod to feature ahead of Anthony Martial in this clash.

Red-hot striker Romelu Lukaku will continue in attack against his former club but midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be given a break after a disappointing midweek display.

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EVERTON TEAM NEWS

Everton were in Europa League action on Thursday but had a night to forget as they were beaten 3-0 by Atalanta.

Ronald Koeman did not use his full strength in Italy, but with a team boasting the likes of Wayne Rooney, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Morgan Schneiderlin, Leighton Baines and Michael Keane he would have expected better.

James McCarthy is a doubt due to a knee injury.

Ross Barkley is missing because of a hamstring problem that is expected to keep him out for two more months.

Long-term issues plague Yannick Bolasie, Ramiro Funes Mori and Seamus Coleman.

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BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS

Manchester United have won 18 and lost just one of their last 24 Premier League home games against Everton, losing 1-0 in December 2013 when former Everton boss David Moyes was in charge of them.
Everton have lost more Premier League games versus Man Utd than against any other side in the competition (33).
Should Manchester United avoid defeat in this match, it’ll be the first time that they have remained unbeaten in their opening five games of a Premier League season since 2011-12.
Sunderland still have more Premier League away wins in 2017 so far (2) than Everton (1).
Everton have attempted just seven shots on target in their four Premier League games this season; a joint-low alongside Swansea City, with just one of these coming in their last two matches.
Jose Mourinho has faced Ronald Koeman more times without winning (5) than any other manager in the Premier League.