Man Utd Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Cardiff City

Kris Voakes

Man Utd Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Cardiff City image

With no chance of qualifying for the Champions League following their 1-1 draw at Huddersfield Town last week, Manchester United will end their season on an anti-climactic note when Cardiff City visit Old Trafford on Sunday.

After the tumult of this season, many United fans will already be pining for next season to begin, but there is the small matter of attempting to secure a place in the Europa League group stage to deal with first.

A United win and anything other than victory for Arsenal at Burnley would see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side finish in fifth place and avoid an agonising wait to see whether they could end up playing in three qualifying rounds of the Europa League, beginning in July.


Man Utd Injuries


Antonio Valencia is in line to return for a send-off ahead of his summer departure. The club captain has missed the last 24 matches since playing at Newcastle in January.

Eric Bailly is out after the knee injury he sustained against Chelsea, and Romelu Lukaku is also likely to be absent due to the hamstring injury which kept him out of the trip to Huddersfield.

Alexis Sanchez looks set to miss out after sustaining an ankle injury at the John Smith's Stadium.

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Man Utd Suspensions


United have no outstanding suspension concerns due to the FA's late-season amnesty on yellow cards for any players with fewer than 15 bookings.


Man Utd Potential Starting Line-Up


Solskjaer is set to name an experimental line-up after revealing on Friday morning that some of the club's academy products will start against Cardiff.

"It might be the last game for some but it might be the start of some careers as well. We've had some young players knocking on the door all season really, and we'll start with one or two of the kids as well."

That could mean a full debut for 17-year-old Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year Mason Greenwood, while Reserve Team Player of the Year Tahith Chong could also play from the off.

Dylan Levitt, Angel Gomes, James Garner and Arnau Puigmal could also be in contention for a place in the squad after training with the senior squad this week.

Elsewhere, Valencia should slot in at right-back in his final United appearance while Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year Luke Shaw will be on the left.

Man Utd possible XI


Cardiff Team News


Relegated Cardiff will be looking to leave the Premier League on a high in what could be Neil Warnock's last game as a top-flight manager. The Bluebirds are unlikely to have any serious injury absences.

Neil Warnock Cardiff City 2018-19


Opta Match Facts


  • Manchester United are unbeaten in their last eight league meetings with Cardiff (W6 D2) since a 0-3 away loss in November 1960.

  • Cardiff have never kept a clean sheet in 15 away games against Man Utd in all competitions (W3 D6 L6).

  • Manchester United have won 18 of their 26 closing day Premier League games, more than any other side in the competition. They’ve not lost such a game since 2006-07 (0-1 vs West Ham).

  • Manchester United have kept just two clean sheets at Old Trafford this season. Even if they don’t concede in this game, it will be their fewest home clean sheets in a single league season since 1962-63 (2).

  • Man Utd are winless in their last four Premier League games (D2 L2), last going five without a win in May 2017. They’d only failed to win four of their opening 16 Premier League matches under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (W12 D2 L2).

  • Cardiff have won just two points from 69 available in Premier League games against the six ever-present sides (P23 W0 D2 L21). They’ve lost their last 19 in a row by an aggregate score of 13-51 since a 2-2 draw with Manchester United in November 2013.

  • Cardiff have led at half-time in just three Premier League games this season – only two teams have ever done so on fewer occasions in a season; Derby County in 2007-08 (1) and QPR in 2012-13 (2).

  • Manchester United have given more players their Premier League debuts in the final match of the season than any other side (11), with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handing out two debuts in his only previous final day Premier League match as a manager when he was Cardiff boss in 2013-14 (Tom James and Rhys Healey).

  • Cardiff boss Neil Warnock has lost all four of his away matches at Old Trafford against Manchester United as a manager in all competitions, losing with Notts County in 1991, Bury in 1998, Sheffield United in 2007 and Crystal Palace in 2014. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored against Warnock’s Bury side in the League Cup in 1998.


TV Coverage & Kick-Off Time


Kick-off is 3:00pm BST (10:00am ET) on Sunday, but the game will not be shown live in the United Kingdom due to the title challenge head-to-head between Manchester City and Liverpool elsewhere. It will be shown on NBCSN in the United States, and on various channels around the world.

Kris Voakes

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