Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Expects Marcus Rashford to Miss Crystal Palace Trip
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said he will be "surprised" if Marcus Rashford is available to play for Manchester United against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Wednesday.
The Englishman was struggling for most of United's 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Sunday, but he was unable to be substituted as Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard all had to go off injured before the half-time break.
United boss Solskjaer admitted he should have taken Rashford off, and he added it is unlikely he will now be available for the visit to south London in the Premier League, per Charlotte Duncker and Liam Corless of the Manchester Evening News:
"If [Rashford] plays [against Palace] I'll be maybe surprised. I've never seen the like of this before, three hamstrings in the first half. Rashy obviously was kicked, he did his ankle straight away, we should have taken him off as well, but we didn't did we. But we've got some good kids coming through, so we'll have 11 players on the pitch on Wednesday night. And luckily we've got two days' recovery."
United were dealt an injury blow even before kick-off on Sunday as Nemanja Matic was ruled out after picking up a knock in training:
Anthony Martial was also unable to return to fitness in time for the Old Trafford clash. Things then got rapidly worse for Solskjaer as play got under way.
Rashford was struggling early in the proceedings, but it was eventually Herrera, Mata and Lingard who had to go off, while Liverpool also lost Roberto Firmino in a remarkable first half:
Lingard was actually put on in place of Mata having started on the bench due to fitness concerns. He lasted less than 20 minutes as he was forced off with an injury.
United looked there for the taking, but Liverpool were unable to take advantage.
The league-leaders were unadventurous in attack and barely troubled David De Gea.
Taking a point away from Old Trafford would, on most occasions, be regarded as a success, and it did put Liverpool back on top of the Premier League table:
But given United's problems in the first half the Reds should arguably have shown more ambition.
As it was, Jurgen Klopp's side almost left Manchester with nothing, but Joel Matip's own goal was ruled out after Chris Smalling was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up.
Solskjaer will now have to assess the damage done to his squad from Sunday's match, and he will almost certainly have to put out a weakened starting XI for Wednesday's visit to Palace.
