Nottingham Forest could come up against a Manchester United side without two of their World Cup stars when the Premier League resumes.
The Reds make the trip to face Valencia in their final friendly of the winter break on Friday (6.30pm kick-off UK time). After that, all eyes will be on their return to competitive action.
That starts with a Carabao Cup clash at Blackburn Rovers next Wednesday (December 21). A trip to Old Trafford on December 27 will then be the first league match back for Steve Cooper’s side.
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The five Forest players - Brennan Johnson, Neco Williams, Wayne Hennessey, Remo Freuler and Cheikhou Kouyate - who were representing their countries in Qatar are now back with the squad, although Kouyate is facing at least a couple of months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury. But that is not the case for United.
Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane had been Erik ten Hag’s first-choice centre-back pairing before the World Cup. But the Argentine and Frenchman will not sign off from Qatar until the weekend, when the final and third-placed play-off take place.
The duo will then be given a week off. And, according to the Manchester Evening News, are unlikely to start against the Reds as they would have had only one training day beforehand. That could mean England’s Harry Maguire coming into the XI against Cooper’s side.
Forest will be aiming to pick up from when they left off when the campaign restarts. A 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace last month lifted them off the foot of the table.
They now sit in 18th spot, one point below 17th-placed Everton. After taking on United, they host Chelsea at the City Ground on New Year’s Day.
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