Manchester United vs Everton team news and match preview
Man Utd will have to find ways to cope without the stars who are at the Africa Cup of Nations.
United are set to lose Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui due to their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations, which runs from 21 December until 18 January. The players will be called up for international duty two weeks before the tournament begins, though United hope to negotiate delayed departures for the trio.
Even if United are successful, those who reach the final four of the tournament could miss seven club matches over the festive period. It means they will have to cope without three important first-team players for a substantial amount of time and Amorim has already identified three players who could be given a chance to play.
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Three Manchester United wonderkids who could play next month
Ruben Amorim believes Jack Fletcher, Shea Lacey and Chido Obi could all be involved for Manchester United when they lose players due to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Fletcher was on the bench for the previous Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur, while Obi made eight senior appearances last season. Lacey has enjoyed an excellent season at youth level but has never been named in a first-team matchday squad.
"I think it's going to be hard, but then that is the good thing of the experience," Amorim said of those he would lose during AFCON. "We lived so many limitations last year, because we changed in January, and we didn't bring the players, and then we had the injury of Amad for four months. All these things, so we are prepared for that, even it will be hard for us, but we have a different baggage to deal with that, and again, I think guys like Jack Fletcher, Shea, a lot of guys, they can step up. We can send at the same time a message to everyone here, in the academy, that this is the future, but we are going to struggle, and we have to be prepared for that."
Was asked if teenage striker Obi was also in contention to be involved, Amorim added: "Yeah, of course, he played last year, I think it was too soon. We didn't have a team. that we can put a young kid with 16, that he will not struggle, or will struggle a little bit, was completely necessary to do that. The perfect conditions, we have the opportunity, and we seek that opportunity for the kids, so he's one of the guys, but I think he started too soon, and sometimes it's hard to deal with that, with the kids, because they think that I'm already here, no, you are here for necessity, and we need to be careful also with that, with the kids.”
Lacey has already trained with the England senior team in recent weeks and was involved in their U21 camp over the recent international break. Asked what he made of his progress, the United head coach said: "I'm really happy with him, I think he struggled a little bit with injuries, they did a very good job balancing his body, you can sense that he can manage more load during training, he has a lot of talent, but when they come here, they can sense the speed is completely different, so they need to spend more time with us to be prepared, because our trainings are hard, at Premier League games, with the pressure it's harder, so they need to be ready."
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