Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that both Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw will miss the club’s crucial tie against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Tottenham have been in some good goalscoring form recently after beating strugglers Swansea City 5-0 at home and United will have to take them on without two of their key defenders who have struggled to find form this season, mainly due to injuries.
Smalling last featured in United’s 4-0 away loss to league leaders Chelsea back in October while his England counterpart, Shaw picked up an injury in their 4-1 win over West Ham United in the EFL cup quarter-final clash and lasted only 45 minutes and was replaced by Daley Blind after the break. The duo missed United’s trip to Goodison park last weekend but Shaw was expected to be fit to face Tottenham on Sunday.
When asked whether both the England internationals will be available for selection on Sunday, Mourinho said, “Not Sunday, no“. However, the Red Devils are boosted with the return of Eric Bailly who played the full 90 minutes in United’s 2-0 win over Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League on Thursday. The defender had suffered a knee ligament injury in the game against Chelsea but is now fit and available for selection.
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United will be without Bailly in January
Mourinho also added that it will be a “big loss” for United when Bailly leaves in January to represent Ivory Coast in the AFCON and said he hoped that United can cope up with the defender’s absence. "Let's hope Smalling can recover in time to replace him in the squad because, with so many matches, we need players," Mourinho added.
"At the moment, we have Phil Jones, Bailly and Marcos Rojo [as centre-backs]. We play Tottenham, West Brom and Reading, West Ham away [among others] - in that period we have a lot of matches and it is important to have players," he said.
The Red Devils are in desperate need for three points when they take on Tottenham, who are currently six points ahead of them in fifth position, on Sunday. United have registered just two wins in their last ten league games and were held to a third consecutive draw against Everton last week.
However, their recent Europa league win and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s form is sure to add confidence to the camp. Wayne Rooney will also be available for selection after he served a one-match suspension last week.
