Manchester United are set to be without up to six key players for Thursday night's Premier League showdown with Chelsea at Old Trafford. Ralf Rangnick confirmed in his press conference on Wednesday afternoon that his squad has become somewhat depleted over recent matches.
Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho, Fred, Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani and Luke Shaw are all set to be sidelined for the visit of the Blues on Thursday. Rangnick was asked whether he could include some youngsters for the game with Chelsea and replied: "It's possible.
"We have quite a few players missing tomorrow and one or two still with question marks. We will have to wait and see tomorrow or see if Aaron Wan-Bissaka can be available.
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"I already played Hannibal [Mejbri] at Liverpool. It is possible, but we have to be fair enough to those players, it has to be the right moment. They should have a chance to play well and to perform well, it's not just pushing them into a game, it should also be at the right moment.
"Fred is unfortunately not yet available, he tried to train yesterday, but after training, I had a long conversation with him, and he just told me he is still not fully fit, he is not 100 per cent. With a player like Fred, who is always committed to give his very best, it doesn't make sense with a muscular injury to play him too early because that we would take the risk of re-injury, and this is something I don't want to do.
"Apart from that, Harry Maguire is not available tomorrow, he has some issues with his knee, not a big thing, some niggles in his knee. He didn't train yesterday and today.
"Paul, obviously, Fred, Edinson, Luke Shaw [are all out], and Jadon is ill - he has had tonsillitis since yesterday. He couldn't train today and won't be available tomorrow.
"We will try to play the best possible team of those players that are available. Right now, it seems we have 14 in our professional team without the youngsters that are available, and probably three or four of those young players will be part of the squad."
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel confirmed that Chelsea will also be missing a host of players for the trip up to the northwest but revealed that Antonio Rudiger and Reece James have trained ahead of the clash. "Kova will still be out, and Ben Chilwell will still be out. Callum still out," Tuchel said.
"Toni & Reece James in training. We have another training, so hopefully, they can give us the green light. Same with Andreas, as he felt sick. Ross Barkley is sick as well."
