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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed in his Southampton pre-match press conference that Marcus Rashford will “probably start” on Saturday, and the news will leave Jannik Vestergaard sweating.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the England international picked up a knock against Liverpool last weekend but given they made three first-half substitutions against the Merseyside outfit, the 21-year-old still stayed on the pitch for the entirety.
He was unable to start against Crystal Palace in midweek but was in the 18-man squad and did feature from the bench for the final 13 minutes of the 3-1 win.
Ahead of the Red Devils’ clash with Saints at Old Trafford, Solskjaer says the explosive attacker is ready to take his place on the team-sheet.
The Norwegian told manutd.com: “Rashford is fully fit now. I’ll probably start him.”
Bad news for Vestergaard?
It certainly might be, as he would have been looking forward to potentially only having to deal with Romelu Lukaku, who he is perfectly suited to given his height and lack of pace.
While the Denmark international has improved significantly since manager Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived at St Mary’s in December, there is no doubt that his lack of speed and agility means he can suffer against players like Rashford.
In the reverse fixture in December which proved to be Mark Hughes’ final one at the helm, the 26-year-old struggled as the young forward ran rings around the south coast outfit’s defence, providing two assists as well as being clattered by the giant centre-back on the right-hand side in the 51st minute.
Given Romelu Lukaku scored twice in the 3-1 win against the Eagles the likelihood is that Rashford will either replace Diogo Dalot on the right of a 4-3-3 system with Alexis Sanchez on the left, or he will partner the Belgium international up top.
Whichever happens Vestergaard will be sweating to come up against an unpredictable and quick player he simply isn’t built to effectively defend against, and he will need help from the likes of left wing-back Ryan Bertrand.
