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Manchester United seem ready to take on West Ham without midfielder Fred, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer awaits good news about Marcus Rashford’s fitness.
United traveled to the capital on Friday night before Saturday night’s clash at the London Stadium. However, his travel group did not include Brazilian midfielder Fred, excluded after his misdeeds against PSG in the middle of the week.
Fred received a red card against the Ligue 1 giants when United slipped to a costly home loss 3-1. That setback has put their hopes of advancing in the Champions League in the balance. Now they must avoid defeat at RB Leipzig to reach the round of 16.
With Fred unavailable in that clash in Germany, it was expected to be a shoo-in for the game against the Hammers.
However, according to MENS, Solskjaer has made the decision to drop Fred from their roster in response to the red card.
The paper states Fred trained as usual during the day. Therefore, his omission from the team of the day appears to be due to some kind of disciplinary decision made by Solskjaer.
The United manager was unusually vocal in his condemnation of the player, offering no sympathy.
United are also sweating from Rashford’s fitness. He has been struggling with a shoulder problem for the better part of a month and was forced to retire against PSG.
Solskjaer has not given up on his performance against West Ham on Saturday, which is followed by the Leipzig tie on Tuesday and Manchester City arrive at Old Trafford next weekend.
“Marcus has been training this morning, not quite, but he has joined the group,” said the United manager.
“Obviously his shoulder prevented him from finishing the game, so he has been receiving treatment and hopefully will be part of the traveling squad.
“He is receiving treatment now after training.”
RashfordAvailability would be a welcome boost against West Ham. But the current problem raises questions about how best to handle the forward.
“Of course it is a medical problem, how serious is it?” Solskjaer said.
“Right now he has this tiredness towards the end or that pain towards the end that prevents him from completing the games. Hopefully, it won’t take long for it to completely disappear.
“But of course you think about how he handles these players throughout the season.
“Marcus, as you say, will run through a brick wall for you and that’s the kind of guy he is.
“We have to cross our fingers so it doesn’t get worse because at the moment it is still manageable.”
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Solskjaer hopes to silence West Ham fans
London Stadium has been an unhappy hunting ground for the Red Devils in recent years.
West Ham could beat United for the third straight league game at home for the first time since the mid-1970s. And its chances increase with the return of 2,000 fans.
“It will be great to play in front of the fans, we are looking forward to it,” said Solskjaer.
“Of course we won’t have our fans there, but we’ll just have to use the energy or thrive with the local fans. Hopefully we can shut them up and that might make them nervous.
“We are looking forward to it. It’s great to see the fans back in a stadium. Of course we also want him back at Old Trafford and we hope we will get there soon.
“Football is not the same, it has not been the same, so great (see some of them back).
“Of course we are a bit bruised and disappointed after Wednesday night, but hopefully we will be ready to move on.”
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