Man Utd Team News: Quartet To Return vs Tottenham But Duo Ruled Out

Manchester United will be looking to close in on the top four in the Premier League table when they take on Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

Ahead of the game, Jose Mourinho has been speaking to the media and he’s offered ManUtd.com the latest on the state of his squad with a team news and injury update.

Unfortunately for United, the Portuguese coach confirmed that Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw will once again miss out this weekend as they continue to recover from injuries.

Smalling hasn’t featured since the 4-0 defeat at Chelsea back in October due to a broke toe but with Eric Bailly heading off to the African Cup of Nations next month, Mourinho is hoping the England international will be available again soon.

Shaw has missed the last five games in all competitions due to an unspecified knock and the left-back has once again been ruled out of action for the visit of Spurs this weekend.

When asked if Smalling and Shaw would feature on Sunday, Mourinho is quoted as saying by ManUtd.com:

“Not Sunday, no. Let’s hope Smalling can recover in time to replace him [Bailly] in the squad because, with so many matches, we need players. At the moment, we have Phil Jones, Bailly and Marcos Rojo [as centre-backs]. We play Tottenham, West Brom and Reading, West Ham away [among others] – in that period we have a lot of matches and it is important to have players.”

Bailly appeared to have picked up a knock during the second half of Thursday night’s Europa League win over Zorya Lahunsk but Mourinho eased any injury fears after confirming the centre-back is fine and available to face Spurs.

United are expected to recall a number of players who were rested last night with Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian all left behind in Manchester while David De Gea should also come back in after being named on the bench against Zorya.

Wayne Rooney is also pushing for a start in the league after missing last weekend’s trip to Everton through suspension but Juan Mata could be a doubt to face Tottenham after appearing to pick up a knock in Odessa.

United welcome the north Londoners to Old Trafford sitting 6 points behind fifth-placed Spurs and nine adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City so Mourinho knows they desperately need a win in order to keep their top four hopes alive.