Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie will again be missing when Manchester United entertain Swansea at Old Trafford.
Rooney has been sent for some warm weather training as he tries to overcome a groin problem that has kept him out of United’s last two games, whilst Van Persie has not recovered from a thigh strain which has sidelined him for a month.
In addition, Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jones, Marouane Fellaini, Nani and Ashley Young are injured, whilst Fabio is suspended.
Meanwhile, Swansea’s injury woes have deepened ahead of their return to Old Trafford.
Jonathan de Guzman, Roland Lamah and Dwight Tiendalli have joined Nathan Dyer, Pablo Hernández, Garry Monk, Michel Vorm and Michu on the sidelines, leaving manager Michael Laudrup with limited options against the reigning champions.
Match facts
- Louis van Gaal’s first competitive match in charge of United has been hotly anticipated and kicks off the Premier League campaign on Saturday.
- The Dutchman has kept the faith with the 3-4-1-2 formation he utilised at the World Cup with Netherlands throughout pre-season, and with new signing Luke Shaw sidelined Ashley Young could get a chance to prove his worth at left wing-back.
- Robin van Persie hasn’t featured at all in pre-season and is a doubt so Javier Hernandez could partner new captain Wayne Rooney up front, with Danny Welbeck carrying a knock.
- It’s been a busy summer at Swansea, with many of the outgoings at the club going somewhat under the radar.
- Ben Davies and Michel Vorm left for Tottenham, while former first teamers Chico, Jonathan De Guzman and Pablo Hernandez are also no longer at the club.
- Bafetimbi Gomis has signed from Lyon but will likely to start on the bench as Wilfried Bony’s deputy. There could, however, be debuts for Lukasz Fabianski and Jefferson Montero, along with a welcome return from Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Predictions
Van Gaal’s side should continue on from an impressive pre-season campaign and register a first win of the season to get the ball rolling under the Dutchman. I am predicting a 2 : 1 at the end of the match.
NaijaBet Odds
At the time of this post, NaijaBet is tipping Manchester United to win at slightly over 100% and Swansea to win at over 700%.
1.31 | 4.80 | 7.85 |