Jose Mourinho Explains Injury Crisis Ahead of Manchester United vs. Arsenal

Jose Mourinho has revealed he may have to wait until the last moment to decide his Manchester United lineup for their Premier League clash with Arsenal Wednesday as there are so many injuries in his squad. 

The Portuguese said it was the same for Saturday's 2-2 draw with Southampton, when he did not know his lineup until hours before the match, per ESPN FC's Rob Dawson:

"Against Southampton, three hours before the game I didn't know the team I was going to play. Nobody knew the team and ourselves we didn't know yet. We were waiting to see who could and couldn't [play], and I think we are going to be in a similar situation. 

"If you asked me at 11 a.m. [on Tuesday] I would say [Chris] Smalling is not playing, [Eric] Bailly is not playing, [Phil] Jones is not playing. Of course, [Victor] Lindelof is out of the question. [Antonio] Valencia is not playing, [Luke] Shaw is a doubt, [Matteo] Darmian is back, but I have to wait and maybe we decide like the last match a couple of hours before the game."

Mourinho ended up having to play midfielders Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay in defence against Saints, and United duly went 2-0 down in 20 minutes to one of the least prolific sides in the Premier League.

At Old Trafford on Wednesday, United can ill afford another poor start.

But they will be up against an in-form Arsenal side who are fresh from a 4-2 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur.

That win for the Gunners stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to 19 matches:

United, meanwhile, have gone more than a month without a victory in the Premier League. 

Arsenal have every right to head to Old Trafford on Wednesday confident they can come away with all three points.

And Mourinho's comments will only give the London side further confidence.

The Red Devils are an unsettled outfit at the moment, with injuries and form dictating that Mourinho has to regularly change his side.

Meanwhile, Unai Emery is so confident in the ability of his players he can potentially be without arguably the most talented of his squad, Mesut Ozil, and still pick up vital victories.