Manchester United are preparing to return to the Champions League stage, but both sides could be missing several players when Sabah FK visit Old Trafford.
Europe’s biggest club competitions carries enormous history for United.
The Red Devils have been crowned European champions three times, first under Sir Matt Busby in 1968 before Sir Alex Ferguson delivered the famous triumphs of 1999 and 2008.
Their most recent Champions League campaign was far less memorable.
United finished bottom of a group containing Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray in 2023/24.
Now, Michael Carrick will lead the club into the competition for the first time and into a completely different format.
United’s league-phase opponents include Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Roma, Sporting CP, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Como and Thursday night’s visitors Sabah FK.
The Azerbaijani champions arrive with confidence after thrashing rivals Zira 5-0, while United are coming off a dramatic 2-2 draw.
Eight players to miss Manchester United vs Sabah
United have five established injury concerns heading into the clash.
Amad Diallo remains sidelined after suffering an ankle injury in training before the season opener.
Meanwhile, Matthijs de Ligt is still working his way back from the long-term back problem which required surgery in May.
Manuel Ugarte is also unavailable after sustaining a serious knee ligament injury while representing Uruguay at the World Cup, with summer signing Carlos Baleba yet to make his United debut as he recovers from an ankle ligament injury picked up during Brighton’s pre-season.
Tom Heaton, meanwhile, has recently been dealing with an abdominal issue and remains a doubt.
Sabah have problems of their own.
According to Idman.Biz, club press secretary Elnur Hamidov has confirmed that Xander Severina, Steve Solvet and Umarali Rakhmonaliev are recovering from injuries.
Hamidov explained that it remains unclear whether all three will recover sufficiently to feature at Old Trafford.
That leaves eight confirmed or reported injury doubts across the two squads.
United will hope their greater squad depth proves decisive as they attempt to begin their first Champions League in nearly three years with three points.