Manchester United have taken a 19-man squad to Brussels for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final with Anderlecht.
Captain Wayne Rooney is the main omission from the side that flew out from Manchester this afternoon, with David de Gea and Antonio Valencia returning to the fold after missing out against Sunderland at the weekend.
Rooney was pictured training with the rest of the side on Wednesday morning at Carrington after recovering from an ankle problem which sidelined him for last week’s encounters against Everton and the Black Cats.
Meanwhile, Valencia is due to return to the side after missing out on the last two matches due to an ankle problem, but De Gea may well have to make do with a place on the bench, with José Mourinho suggesting that Sergio Romero will keep his place for the encounter at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium despite the Spaniard recovering from a small hip problem.
Speaking after the victory against Sunderland at the weekend, the United boss said:
De Gea’s injury is not serious and Romero every time he plays he plays so well. The fans are used to having Romero in goal in the competition [the Europa League] – that becomes the most important competition for us after winning the League Cup.
The Europa League is the competition we can still win, so when Sergio plays in the Europa League and when we are giving him this confidence to play, it’s because we know that his answer is positive and today he looked like he was really comfortable.
United will be looking to secure a decisive advantage in Belgium ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford next week. The last time these two teams met was in the Champions League group stage in 2000 when the Reds thrashed Anderlecht 5-1 at home, before losing 2-1 away in Brussels.
United squad:
Goalkeepers: David de Gea, Sergio Romero, Joel Pereira.
Defenders: Antonio Valencia, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Axel Tuanzebe, Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw.
Midfielders: Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jesse Lingard.
Forwards: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford.
