Neither Edinson Cavani nor Anthony Martial are fit for Manchester United’s crunch Champions League trip to RB Leipzig, with their qualification to the knockout rounds hanging in the balance.
Last week’s 3-1 home defeat by Paris-Saint Germain means Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side head into their final Group H fixture level on nine points with PSG and Tuesday’s opponents, Leipzig.
The Red Devils will qualify for the round-of-16 if they avoid defeat to the Bundesliga outfit – and you can hear full commentary of the huge European clash LIVE on talkSPORT.
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But United’s task has been made all the more difficult as they will be without forwards Cavani and Martial, who both sustained knocks in Saturday’s 3-1 comeback win at West Ham.
“David [De Gea] is back in travelling, Luke [Shaw] is travelling,” revealed Solskjaer, who is also without Fred due to suspension having been sent off in the defeat by PSG.
“Edinson and Anthony they’ve only minor niggles but they won’t be making the trip.
“You get to the last game of the group stage and you’re in the next round if you go and win that game or you get a draw so it’s an important game. Of course it is.”
There is a lot of pressure on United heading into Tuesday’s match but Solskjaer is confident the players will rise to the occasion.
“Knockout games or games like this that mean you can go through or not are big,” the United boss said.
“The players are here, they are Man United players, because they have qualities that we’ve looked for and I’m sure that tomorrow night will prove that’s the reason why they’re here, they will show it.
“I think the character of the group is getting better and better and we’re looking forward to the game.
“It’s something that we want, games like this. It’s a tradition for Man United – we never make it easy for ourselves.
“Of course we look at the games, especially the away game against Istanbul [Basaksehir] that we could have got three points, but that’s just the way we do things.
“We do make it hard for ourselves. That’s been ever since I played and that’s a long, long time ago.”
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United captain Harry Maguire echoed his manager’s sentiments, pointing to July’s crucial win at Leicester that sealed qualification for this Champions League campaign.
“First and foremost, I joined this club to play in the biggest games possible,” the world’s most expensive defender said.
“Your big players step up in the most pressured games, so for sure I think that’s a statement which shows over the years, that the big players step up in the big games.
“It’s a bit similar to the game at Leicester last year where we had to get a result to reach the Champions League and we managed to do that, so we’ll take confidence from that.
“But we feel ready, we feel prepared and we’re looking forward to it.”
talkSPORT brings you full LIVE commentary of RB Leipzig vs Manchester United on Tuesday, kick-off 8pm
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