Manchester United boss José Mourinho has confirmed that he will be resting several of his usual regulars when the Reds kick off their defence of the Carabao Cup against Championship side Burton Albion on Wednesday night.
David de Gea, Antonio Valencia, Eric Bailly and Nemanja Matic have all been given two days off after United’s 4-0 victory over Everton at the weekend, while Paul Pogba and Axel Tuanzebe will be missing through injury.
Pogba picked up a hamstring problem during United’s comfortable Champions League win against Basel last weekend, while Tuanzebe has been struggling with a back problem, although it is not known when he picked up the injury.
Speaking after United’s win at the weekend, Mourinho said:
I gave two days off only to four players. Apart from that, everybody is selected. Do you want to know which four? De Gea, Valencia, Matic and Bailly.
We don’t have 30 players, we have what we have, and a couple of injuries right now with Paul Pogba and Axel Tuanzebe. So we need some of the players that played on Sunday to play and we need some to be on the bench.
Mourinho was also asked whether he would be taking the Carabao Cup seriously this season, to which he offered a firm response:
Oh, yes. Serious. Because it’s football, it’s competition. We take it seriously.
Of course, we’re not playing David or Bailly but, if we go to the next round, probably these guys will play and I will give a rest to others. Our squad is good.
We need to be with a strong team. I know the quality of the Championship and I know, if we don’t take the game seriously, we are going to lose.
