Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku, Man UtdGetty

Man Utd Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Swansea City

Just as in 2016-17, Jose Mourinho's Manchester United got off to a winning start in the new Premier League season. But the task ahead of the Red Devils now is to continue the form they showed in the 4-0 win over West Ham at Old Trafford, starting at Swansea on Saturday.

With the Portuguese boss looking to guide United to a first league title in five years, he couldn't have wished for a better lift-off in his second campaign. The task for Paul Clement and his Swans will be to reproduce the form which saw them make a late rally last term and save their Premier League skins.

That run included a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in a match symptomatic of United's trouble in seeing off lesser opposition throughout the course of the season. The 20-time champions can prove another point about their increased title potential by racking up a second victory in 2017-18.

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MAN UTD INJURIES


United's injury concerns from the end of 2016-17 remain their main issues of the new campaign.

Ashley Young is out until October with a hamstring injury, while left-back Luke Shaw has a joint injury and is unlikely to return before September.

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Marcos Rojo, a fellow defender, is out until the end of the year with an ACL knee injury, while young striker James Wilson is also ruled out following a productive summer with the Under-23s squad in their Austria training camp.

Following the fantastic Premier League debuts of Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku against West Ham, Victor Lindelof will be hopeful of following them in making his league bow. However, manager Mourinho has hinted that the Swedish centre-back might be eased in as he comes to terms with the new domestic championship.

Ashley Young Manchester UnitedGetty

MAN UTD SUSPENSIONS


While Phil Jones and Eric Bailly each have one more match to serve of their respective European suspensions, United will not have anyone suspended for this league encounter.

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MAN UTD POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP


Many football traditionalists will tell you it is folly to change a winning side, but Jose Mourinho has never been the type of manager to sit on his hands. And with such a deep squad available to him, he is likely to make changes for the trip to south Wales in order to make his team a little more durable in their opening away fixture of the campaign.

Star debutants Lukaku and Matic will continue, but there could well be a change of shape in midfield to allow Ander Herrera to return to the starting XI alongside the Serb and Paul Pogba. That would mean the exclusion of one of the front four with Juan Mata the most likely to make way.

There could also be a call-up for Matteo Darmian in place of Daley Blind at left-back as Mourinho looks to bolster his side in the defensive third.

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One thing which definitely works in Mourinho's favour but could also make predicting a United line-up difficult in 2017-18 is the versatility of his squad. United used a number of different formations during the pre-season campaign, with a back three also a possibility on top of the adaptation of the midfield two to three and the reshaping of the front line to offer closer support to Lukaku.

Manchester United XI GFX

SWANSEA TEAM NEWS


Swansea were fortunate to come away from St Mary's with a point on opening day as a Southampton side which fashioned 28 chances managed to hit the target only twice and recorded a 0-0 draw where a massive home win might have been more reflective of the flow of the game.

Paul Clement will be hoping his side turn in a far more convincing performance in front of their own fans on Saturday, with Tammy Abraham's leading of the line one of the few positives to take from their draw on the south coast.

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The Swans added £11 million midfielder Roque Mesa from Las Palmas in the summer, but he didn't come off the bench at St Mary's as Clement gives him time to settle. He could make his Premier League bow against United, but there will likely be no Fernando Llorente as he continues his comeback from a broken arm while Nathan Dyer and Ryan Blair are long-term absentees.

Tammy Abraham of Swansea CityStu Forster/Getty Images

BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS


  • The Swans have never kept a clean sheet against Manchester United in the Premier League in 12 contests. The last Swans goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet versus the Red Devils was Dai Davies in December 1982.

  • Manchester United have won two of their last three Premier League meetings with Swansea (D1), this after losing the previous three all by a 2-1 scoreline.

  • The Swans are now unbeaten in their last six Premier League matches (W4 D2 L0) – this is their longest unbeaten run in the competition since a run of seven games between December 2012 and January 2013.

  • Manchester United have only won two points (W0 D2 L2) and scored one goal in their last four Premier League matches away from Old Trafford.

  • Last weekend, Romelu Lukaku became the fourth Man Utd player to score a brace on his Premier League debut (also Van Nistelrooy, Wilson, Rashford). Indeed, the Belgian striker is also looking to become the fifth player to net in his first two PL apps for Man Utd (also Ibrahimovic, Martial, Macheda, Saha).


TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME


The match is being televised live on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK and kicks off at 12:30BST.

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