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Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney could be a doubt for the home game against Liverpool after reportedly suffering a hamstring injury, according to The Guardian. Seventh-placed Liverpool travel to Old Trafford to play against their rivals who are currently fifth in the Premier League table.
According to the report, Rooney felt a tightness in his leg when the Red Devils had a training session at their training base in Carrington. The England striker, who recently broke Sir Bobby Charlton’s record as the Three Lions’ highest all-time goalscorer, was not with the squad when they arrived at the Lowry Hotel – the team’s hotel – on Friday.
Reports also suggest that Louis van Gaal’s staff will make the 29-year-old striker take a late fitness test on the day of the game before taking a final call. The match kicks off at Old Trafford at 17:30 local time (22:00 IST).
If the hamstring injury is serious, Rooney may also be a doubt for their Champions League tie away to PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday night – an important fixture as the Red Devils make their comeback to Europe’s premier competition after a season’s absence.
Van Gaal short of forward players at Manchester United
The injury could not have come at a worse time for Louis van Gaal. The club had just sold Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez to Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the transfer window in a deal worth £7.3m while Adnan Januzaj was loaned to Borussia Dortmund. It leaves Van Gaal without many forward players in his line up, having signed only French youngster Anthony Martial which made him the most expensive teenager in football history.
Meanwhile, the Dutch boss had plans of loaning 19-year-old striker James Wilson to a Championship club to gain experience rather than sitting on the bench at United. Van Gaal had said, “James has to go to a Championship club, so then I can call him back if my striker is injured. Then we need him and then he would have more playing time," according to Sky Sports.
“For Wilson, another year in the same way as last year is not good for his development. It is not good for Januzaj either. This is why we let players go on loan and we don't sell, because we believe in the quality of Januzaj and in the quality of Wilson."
Will Van Gaal play Martial or Fellaini as a striker?
Although Martial was bought to play as a striker, Van Gaal had talked about making sure he was eased into the team rather than giving him a trial-by-fire debut against Liverpool. Martial is only 19 years old and has been compared to Thierry Henry. But he has had only one season under his belt at AS Monaco.
Fellaini is also an option for Van Gaal who had previously stated he could deploy the Belgian up front. Van Gaal had said in August: “He (Fellaini) can play as a no.6 or no.8 but this year he'll be more a no.9 or no.10 as we have players in the other positions."
