Manchester United take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Thursday and full-backs Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams could both be ruled out.
Luke Shaw twisted his ankle during United’s 2-2 draw vs Southampton and was replaced by young Brandon Williams. But the academy graduate also had to be taken off the pitch after suffering a nasty cut under his eye.
And speaking ahead of the Palace game, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has raised doubts over the fitness of both Luke Shaw and Williams.
“Luke has got a swollen ankle, so hopefully I’ll give him as much time as possible to recover – it was a twist on his ankle,” Ole told reporters at his pre-match press conference.
“Brandon’s eye, he cut up his eye there, so I don’t really know. We’ve not trained this morning, none of them trained yesterday, so they were both swollen and I’ll give them as much time as possible to get ready.
“The team selection for Thursday is based on Thursday, not on Sunday. Sunday is irrelevant, it doesn’t come into my head at all. It’s just Thursday, so we’ll see.
“The injury situation, there was a couple of doubts before the Southampton one, but they all reported fit on the day. And hopefully, we can give them time now and not having to leave players out of injury, but as you say, there might be one or two fresh legs coming in.”
Will Luke Shaw & Williams miss out?
The duo reported to Carrington one day after the Saints loss but clearly they are not yet fully fit and with a crucial FA Cup clash vs Chelsea coming up, Solskjaer might not want to risk either of the two players at Selhurst Park.
So if both Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams are not available for selection on Thursday then the manager might have to opt for a change in formation, using a three-man defensive line.
