Manchester United are carefully monitoring Bruno Fernandes following concerns over the captain during the international break, while Ruben Amorim could also be without Nousser Mazraoui for this weekend’s match against Liverpool. The Red Devils will travel to Merseyside on Sunday to take on the reigning Premier League champions at Anfield.
Amorim’s side secured an important 2-0 win over Sunderland before the international break and are aiming to become the first side to win back-to-back league titles since the Portuguese manager took over. Mazraoui has been sidelined since September 20 due to an undisclosed injury, and Amorim admitted he does not know if the player will feature this weekend.
At the pre-match press conference, Amorim revealed: “Lisha (Martinez) is almost back to training with the team. Mazraoui, I don’t know.” Martinez injured his knee against Crystal Palace in early February, and it was later revealed that he had damaged his cruciate ligament.
His return to the team is not imminent, and the coaching staff has no intention of rushing him back into the game. Amorim granted additional rest to players who were participating in international matches or training during the holidays, but assured that these players would be ready for Sunday’s match.
Fernandes is one of them, but United are carefully monitoring their captain’s fitness after concerns he looked tired while playing for Portugal. He was given another day of rest before training with his teammates for this weekend’s match.
“The rest of the national team players are ready,” Amorim said. “But if you look at the game, some players were in Japan, so we have to be careful and give them more time.
“Diogo (Daro) didn’t play in the last game but he was here. Bruno (Fernandes) played 62 minutes. We tried to give him another day. We tried to balance everything to get the players ready, but the players who came back from the international break are ready.”
On Senne Lamence, who is set to make his second appearance for United at Anfield, Amorim added: “He did a great job[against Sunderland]so he could potentially start the game.”
“First impressions are very important in this game. It’s even more difficult to maintain the level. He’s not (Peter) Schmeichel yet. He’s a talented young guy and he’s showing great poise.”
