Man United take on Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Tuesday and the Red Devils will be without Nemanja Matic and Edinson Cavani for this game.
Matic missed the Southampton game with a shin injury while Edinson Cavani was out from the same game due to groin trouble. The duo will the Seagulls’ visit to Old Trafford but the manager did go on to add that Fred will once again be available for selection after testing negative.
“Fred will be available again,” said Rangnick, at his pre-match press conference.
“He’ll also be part of the group for tomorrow. Edinson is still out, the same with Nema. The rest is, well, Alex [Telles] is back again in the squad and already was part of the group for the Southampton game and he will also be available.”
Will Fred return to the midfield on Tuesday?
Fred and McTominay have been the two defensive midfield pairing for Man United this season but after Fred tested positive for COVID, Rangnick has had to use McTominay as the lone midfield pivot.
Pogba has been starting in place of Fred and in the previous two matches, the Frenchman has done more than a decent job. Despite the poor result vs Southampton, Paul Pogba was excellent in that game so he’s going to start once again in midfield, alongside Fernandes and McTominay.
Paul Pogba's first half by numbers vs. Southampton:
100% long passes completed (5/5)
88% pass accuracy
23 passes completed
3 ball recoveries
3 ground duels won
2 aerial duels won
1 chance createdBossing the midfield. 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/bdYZuN2Skh
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 12, 2022
Will Cavani’s absence be a big cause of concern for the Man United manager?
Cristiano Ronaldo is going through a really rough patch in front of goal and Tuesday’s game would have been ideal to rest the forward and bring in Edinson Cavani.
Cavani is also not in great form but at least a rotation might have freshened things up in the final third. But now that the South American is also ruled out, Ralf Rangnick has no other option but to stick with CR7.
This might not be a really bad idea though since someone like Ronaldo is only a whisker away from regaining his form.
