Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial could both return from injury for Manchester United’s huge Premier League clash with Liverpool on Sunday.
Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave a positive update on the wingers, who were forced off with muscle injuries during the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last week.
The pair were considered unlikely to be fit for the Liverpool game at Old Trafford, however they could provide a timely boost for United, who will bid to strengthen their grip on the top four and put a huge dent in their rivals’ title bid.
“We’re looking OK,” Solskjaer said of the squad. “I hope Jesse will be OK. More hope and think that Anthony will be OK, but we’ve got two more days so they’ve got to get through these two sessions.
“They’ve not been part of it yet but they’ve been doing some recovery work.
“Anthony’s was a different muscle, so we think that he might be ready and hope that Jesse will.”
Solskjaer knows all about games against Liverpool from his playing days and is ready for the game on Sunday, which is live on talkSPORT.
“I’ve played in a few of these myself and I know the magnitude of it for the fans, for everyone who works here, the staff,” he said.
“There has been many comments about, ‘this is the big one’ and ‘we’re looking forward to this one’.
“Then it’s our job to be focusing and channelling all that energy into performance mode when we start the game on Sunday.
“It’s not about emotions. I understand that emotion can be brought into it but we have to stay focused and controlled but with some fight in us as well.”
United were comfortably beaten 3-1 at Anfield in December and that proved to be Jose Mourinho’s final match at the helm.
The Portuguese was known for his mind games ahead of big matches, as was Solskjaer’s mentor Sir Alex Ferguson.
Asked if this is something he bought into as a manager, the Norwegian said: “Nah. I don’t think Jurgen Klopp will read what I say.
“I’m not going to read what he says or the players say. That’s further down the line I would think.
“[Ferguson] would be welcome to have his talk to the players if he wanted to, the gaffer, because we know how much it meant for him to overtake Liverpool.
“I think our players know what it means for everyone at Man United. No [plans for Ferguson to come in right now].”