Manager Ruben Amorim admitted that Matheus Cunha’s injury during the Premier League game against Everton was “not serious”. Cunha was tipped to spearhead Manchester United’s attack in a false-nine role following Benjamin Sesco’s injury in the game against Tottenham before the international break.
Despite this, Cunha was also injured and was not included in the squad on match day. Amorim was asked to explain the situation ahead of the match against the Toffees and told MUTV: “It was a shock in training so we don’t know how long he will be out. I don’t think it’s serious but we can’t put the players at risk. We have to show everyone that when we’re not 100 per cent we have another player to deal with the demands of the game.”
Cunha was replaced by Joshua Zirkzee in the starting lineup. Zirksee has not started a league game since April and last found the back of the net against Everton in December.
“I just want to see Josh play well with his quality,” Amorim said of Zirkzee’s starting role. “Ben (Sesco) has his problems, and Cunha has his problems, too.”
“He’s working in that position. Looking at our team, I think Josh has more or less the same characteristics as Cunha in that position. We want to maintain what we’ve been working on together this week and he’s ready.”
Manchester United went into the match with the mindset that if they defeated Everton, they would be able to move up to fourth place, one point behind Manchester City.
