Manchester United will be missing several of their biggest names and top stars when they face Leeds United, and not all of them because of injury.
Leeds United are raring to get back on the field when they take on old foes Manchester United in their first pre-season friendly on Saturday.
The game takes place at the Strawberry Arena in Stockholm, and both clubs are making their way to the Swedish capital on Friday ahead of the encounter.
Daniel Farke could deploy a new-look Leeds starting XI for the match, with signings Jaka Bijol, Lukas Nmecha, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Gabriel Gudmundsson all in line to make their debuts.
There’s still hope that Sean Longstaff could be involved if his signing from Newcastle United is confirmed on Friday, but that’s looking unlikely the longer the wait for confirmation goes on.
Leeds will also welcome Dan James and Pascal Struijk back from injury, but are expected to be without trio Brenden Aaronson, Willy Gnonto and Mateo Joseph after their international exploits in the summer earned them some extra recuperation time.
But that casualty list is nowhere near as severe as Man U’s, who are without eight players, including Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho.
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Manchester United without Marcus Rashford and X other top players
Unsurprisingly, despite a lot of talk to the contrary, Manchester United have endured yet another challenging transfer window.
They have made two signings in Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon, who could both play against Leeds, but had expected to make many more by now and were hoping to move several players on, too.
Rashford, Garnacho, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia have all been told to find new clubs this summer and were granted late returns to pre-season training to do so.
None of them have been successful, however, and none have made the trip to Sweden as they are not in Ruben Amorim’s plans.
Man U are also without injured pair Andre Onana and Lisandro Martinez, as well as Joshua Zirkzee, who hasn’t travelled either.
Manchester United squad to face Leeds United in Sweden
Amorim reportedly wanted to take a reduced squad to face Leeds as he wants to replicate the upcoming season, in which his side will not have European football to contend with.
However, Man U have still taken a 29-man squad to Stockholm, largely consisting of first-teamers, though several academy prospects have been included to make up the numbers.
Goalkeepers: Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton, Dermot Mee.
Defenders: Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu, Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw, Ayden Heaven, Diego Leon, Tyler Fredricson, Reece Munro, Godwill Kukonki.
Midfielders: Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo, Jack Fletcher, Sekou Kone, Toby Collyer.
Forwards: Rasmus Hojlund, Matheus Cunha, Amad, Chido Obi, Ethan Williams, Bendito Mantato.
Amorim has enough players to name two different starting XIs for each half, which is typical for friendlies, especially the first one back after the holidays, to give as many players minutes as possible.
Leeds are likely to take a similar approach in the match, as Farke aims to get his squad into fighting shape for the top flight.
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