Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has dropped a big hint that Marcus Rashford could make the starting line-up against Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Red Devils returned to winning ways against Sabah in the Champions League on Thursday night. They secured a convincing 4-0 triumph over the competition newcomers.
Rashford was named on the substitutes’ bench after recovering from a minor muscle injury against Everton, but the Englishman did not play a single minute in the victory.
Carrick has now revealed that the Sabah game provided the perfect opportunity to provide more minutes to Benjamin Sesko to get up to speed this campaign.
The manager added that it was also nice to keep Rashford ‘fresh and ready’ for the weekend.
He said: “A little bit of that, yeah, and trying to share the load a little bit, to a point, as well.
“We’ve got good options, so we’re trying to keep everyone fresh, but with a point where Ben [Sesko] can get good minutes tonight [against Sabah] and get him up to speed.
“There’s always a bit of a challenge in getting that right, but it was nice to keep Marcus fresh and ready for the weekend.”
Rashford poised to start vs Man City
The Englishman has scored seven goals in 23 appearances against the Cityzens, but his recent record has been very impressive. He has netted in three of his previous four starts.
Matheus Cunha played on the left wing in midweek with Sesko leading the line, but we could see the latter drop to the bench based on Carrick’s comments in the presser.
Sesko scored another crucial goal for United yesterday, but Carrick probably feels the striker requires more minutes under his belt before he can become an undisputed starter.
The Slovenian also needs to improve his distribution and physical presence upfront. He managed just five successful passes against Sabah and won only four out of 11 duels contested.
Hence, we won’t be surprised if Cunha returns to the number nine position at Old Trafford on Sunday with Sesko making way. Rashford, described as a ‘world-class’ forward by Barcelona’s official website, looks poised to start on the left wing after a break on the bench against Sabah.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com