Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will give starts to Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku in Manchester United‘s FA Cup third-round clash with Reading.
Solskjaer confirmed he will make a number of changes, although his defensive options are limited by injuries to Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo while Eric Bailly is suspended.
Paul Pogba is likely to be rested for the third-round tie after he sustained a knock following a challenge with Jonjo Shelvey during their 2-0 win against Newcastle on Wednesday.
“Rojo [and] Smalling – they’re out,” Solskjaer said. “I’m not sure if Paul [Pogba] is going to be ready for this one. He got a knock against Newcastle and hopefully [Marouane] Fellaini will get through the training session today and then we’re more or less a full squad.
“There’ll be a few changes and they’ll get a chance. Some of them are itching now to play, of course. Get Lukaku a start, get Sanchez a start. That’s important for them, because they need more game time.”
Sergio Romero, Fellaini, Andreas Pereira, Fred, Matteo Darmian, Scott McTominay, Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes could all come into contention as the interim manager considers rotating his squad following a heavy period of matches.
“Obviously it was Wednesday night [against Newcastle] and it’s Saturday morning [against Reading] so there will be a few changes,” Solksjaer told MUTV. “Many of them have played four games on the bounce and are feeling the Christmas period so there might be a couple of changes, or maybe a few more, but we’re ready for Reading.
Provisional squad: De Gea, Romero, Grant, Dalot, Darmian, Valencia, Shaw, Young, Jones, Lindelof, Fred, Gomes, Matic, Pereira, Herrera, McTominay, Pogba, Lingard, Fellaini, Mata, Rashford, Martial, Lukaku, Sanchez, Chong.
PA
