11 players could miss Man Utd vs Chelsea but Enzo Maresca confirms injury boost

Manchester United host Chelsea at Old Trafford this weekend desperately needing to inject some life into their stuttering campaign. United have managed just one victory from their opening four league fixtures and were comprehensively outclassed by local rivals Manchester City last weekend.

The Red Devils face another stern examination as they welcome the Enzo Maresca's side to Manchester. Ruben Amorim will undoubtedly be eager to field his strongest available XI for the encounter and, fortunately, a pair of key figures appear poised to make their comeback.

The United boss has revealed that both Matheus Cunha and Mason Mount are prepared to feature once more, though Diogo Dalot and Lisandro Martinez remain sidelined. During his pre-match press briefing, Amorim confirmed: "Dalot is out, Mase and Cunha are in the squad. Licha is still out, that is it."

Discussing the Argentine defender, Amorim continued: "It's really important [that Martinez is nearing a return]. When you have that injury you recover a lot of times very fast and then there is a boring part where it looks like you don't go to the next step.

"We do miss Licha a lot. We miss the aggression in this moment, how aggressive he is on everything he does, we miss him. But he's always there in every meeting, even in training, he stays there to watch the training... I think we need Licha in this team."

Another player unavailable is transfer-listed Tyrell Malacia. "He is returning with contact with the ball with the Under-21s, then we will see," Amorim commented regarding the Dutch full-back.

Meanwhile, Enzo Maresca's outfit have made an encouraging beginning to the fresh season. The Blues remain without defeat following four matches, though they did suffer a setback in their Champions League curtain-raiser against Bayern Munich.

The west London outfit picked up a new worry against the German giants with Cole Palmer appearing to pick up a knock, but he seems likely to be available for the Old Trafford encounter.

During his pre-match media briefing, Maresca commented: "Cole is okay. We have a session now, we flew back yesterday. We need to assess some players, we have some doubt. We didn't have a session since Wednesday's game, but we will see."

While Palmer appears poised to feature, there are numerous players who will not. Long-standing absentees Levi Colwill and Liam Delap remain unavailable, whilst midfielder Dario Essugo is also sidelined.

Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia have been battling their own problems and, although they are nearing comebacks, this weekend's journey to Old Trafford appears marginally premature.

Beyond injuries, Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi both continue to be frozen out and are virtually guaranteed not to feature, whilst Ukraine international Mykhailo Mudryk is banned.

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