Ruben Amorim has explained his decision to leave Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out of the Manchester derby, confirming it is not due to injury problems.
Manchester United are looking to avoid a third straight Premier League as they travel to the Etihad Stadium this afternoon, but they do so without the two forward players.
Rashford and Garnacho have both missed out on the squad completely, as Amad Diallo and Mason Mount start behind Rasmus Hojlund.
The duo trained on Sunday morning, but Amorim has opted to leave them out of the matchday squad in a surprise move.
The United boss told Sky Sports: “We try to evaluate everything training performance, game performances, engagement with team-mates, push their team-mates up. Everything is on the line when we analyse and try to choose the players. It is my selection. Simple.
“I don’t want to send a message it is simply an evaluation and they know it. The players are really, really smart. Everybody understands my decision and I have to choose. It is simple selection.
“Of course the context is difficult because we have to win games and we have a difficult situation now. I pay attention to everything, the way you eat, the way you put your clothes to go to a game. Everything. I make my evaluation and then I decide.
“There is a communication after the last training. They are alright. They had training this morning and I was there. They trained really well.”
