Marcus Rashford left Manchester United’s game against Barcelona hurt, and the Carabao Cup final is on Sunday.
Rashford is an injury doubt
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is unsure if Marcus Rashford will be fit to start the League Cup final against Newcastle.
Rashford sustained an ankle injury in the second half of United’s 2-1 Europa League play-off win over Barcelona on Thursday night and was substituted in the 88th minute.
The 25-year-old has plundered 16 goals in his last 18 games and is United’s highest scorer this term with 24 goals and will be assessed over the next 48 hours ahead of Sunday’s final. Anthony Martial, who has not started a game since January 14 and last completed 90 minutes in January 2021, is still out with a hip injury.
“I don’t know,” Ten Hag said when asked if Rashford would recover. “Players are now coming in, we have to do investigations, medical, of course, yesterday we did. So straight after a game most of the time you can’t say, you have to wait for a 100 per cent diagnosis. So let’s do the medical, the work, we have to wait.”
United are the only team in Europe competing on four fronts and can end a trophy drought that is straying close to six years if they beat Newcastle at Wembley.
The defeat of Barcelona has secured a draw with Real Betis in the last 16 and United host West Ham in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday.
United are third in the Premier League table while Newcastle have slipped to fifth after only one win in their last seven league games.
“It’s great,” Ten Hag said of the final. “As you have seen, see we take every game seriously, we take every competition seriously, so we’ve now progressed to a final and it’s great to play a final. But if you play you want to win.
“It was a good feeling, that unified feeling, really together. It was good. So a great opponent, because it’s one of the best teams in Europe, Barcelona, a typical way of playing, and if you can beat them it’s great.
“Sunday is a challenge again but totally different. It’s also great to play them, to find a way to play against different styles, different systems. Every time you want to beat them, every time you want to find a good strategy and plan to beat opponents.”
source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
