Manchester United VS Stoke City
Monday (15/01/2018)
21:00 (WAT)
Monday (15/01/2018)
21:00 (WAT)
Manchester United resume their faint Premier League title challenge on Monday as they host Stoke City at Old Trafford.
Jose Mourinho's Red Devils beat Derby 2-0 to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup - a competition United must compete for given their shock EFL Cup exit and Man City's dominance in the league.
Stoke, meanwhile, are in real danger of relegation this season as they sit 18th in the table, but have sacked former United striker Mark Hughes in an attempt to arrest an alarming decline.
However, Mourinho will be wary of the Potters after they secured an impressive 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Team news
Antonio Valencia could return for Manchester United's home clash with Stoke on Monday night.
The converted right-back has been out for almost a month with a hamstring injury but trained with Jose Mourinho's team in Dubai this week along with Michael Carrick, who has not played since September having undergone a procedure to treat an irregular heart rhythm.
Ashley Young still has one match left to serve on his suspension while Eric Bailly (ankle) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (knee) are missing once again.
Provisional squad: Romero, De Gea, Pereira, Tuanzebe, Darmian, Jones, Smalling, Valencia, Lindelof, Rojo, Shaw, Blind, McTominay, Pogba, Herrera, Matic, Carrick, Fellaini, Lingard, Martial, Rashford, Lukaku, Mata, Mkhitaryan.
Stoke could have Erik Pieters and Bruno Martins Indi available for the trip to Old Trafford.
The Dutch pair have stepped up their recoveries from hamstring and groin injuries respectively, returning to training this week. It was hoped skipper and fellow defender Ryan Shawcross, recently sidelined by a calf problem, would also be involved in training ahead of the game.
There may be a debut for right-back Moritz Bauer after his switch from Rubin Kazan to the Potters, who have had first-team coach Eddie Niedzwiecki in temporary charge since the sacking of boss Mark Hughes last weekend.
Provisional squad: Butland, Grant, Zouma, Wimmer, Cameron, Martins Indi, Souttar, Bauer, Pieters, Edwards, Tymon, Fletcher, Allen, Adam, Ireland, Afellay, Shaqiri, Diouf, Choupo-Moting, Sobhi, Crouch, Berahino, Ngoy.
Predicted line-ups
Man United starting XI: De Gea, Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Shaw, Matic, Pogba, Lingard, Martial, Mata, Lukaku
Stoke starting XI: Butland, Edwards, Zouma, Wimmer, Pieters, Allen, Cameron, Adam, Shaqiri, Crouch, Choupo-Moting
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