United In Striker Crisis As Rooney, Rashford And Martial To Miss Chelsea Game
Reuters / Jason Cairnduff
Manchester United will be up against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge without a recognised forward on Monday as Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial all were ruled out by manager Jose Mourinho.
FA Cup holders United are already without the service of suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the quarterfinal clash against the Premier League leaders.
But sources close to Manchester United have now confirmed that Rooney and Martial will miss the game due to injury, while England youngster Rashford sidelined because of an illness.
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All three players failed to join the rest of the United team when they boarded a train to London from Stockport on Sunday afternoon, with sources confirming the reason for their sudden absence.
It means all the four attacking options will be unavailable for the FA Cup showdown against Mourinho’s former club and subsequently leave the manager with a makeshift attack in a damaging blow to their hopes to make it to the last four.
Rooney, who missed the Europa League round-of-16 trip to Russia for last Thursday’s 1-1 draw against FC Rostov, picked up an injury Sunday’s training session following a collision with teammate Phil Jones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4kUBDNzG3U
In the absence of a senior forward, Mourinho may opt for Marouane Fellaini at centre-forward with Juan Mata or Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the nearest supporting role.
After the Chelsea game, on Thursday United will welcome Rostov at Old Trafford. The good news is Ibrahimovic, who begins a three-match domestic suspension against Chelsea, will be available for that match.
The recent crisis up front couldn’t have come at a worse time with the Red Devils in the middle of an extremely congested fixture schedule, with Chelsea the third of five matches in 16 days for the Manchester Outfit.
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