By Betsefy
Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford is expected to be fit for Sunday’s Premier League derby with Manchester City, according to a report.
The 24-year-old lost his goalscoring touch under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick in the 2021-22 season, and the possibility of a summer exit was mentioned.
Erik ten Hag ultimately elected to keep hold of Rashford, who has thrived in the number nine role while Cristiano Ronaldo remains out of favour and Anthony Martial‘s Achilles injury keeps him sidelined.
The England international has three goals and two assists to boast from his opening six games of the new Premier League season, but he has not been involved in either of his side’s Europa League games with Real Sociedad or Sheriff Tiraspol due to a hamstring problem.
As a result of his injury, Rashford missed out on a place in Gareth Southgate‘s England squad for September’s UEFA Nations League matches with Italy and Germany.
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Fears were immediately raised over Rashford missing the visit of Man City to Old Trafford on October 2, which marks Man United’s first Premier League game since beating Arsenal 3-1 on September 4.
However, The Sun reports that Rashford is ‘winning his battle’ to recover from his problem and could therefore be ready to lead the line against the English champions this weekend.
The report adds that the Englishman has now returned to training and is feeling refreshed ahead of the visit of Pep Guardiola‘s men, as Man United aim to win their fifth Premier League game on the bounce.
Rashford has now amassed 96 goals and 60 assists from 309 matches in a Man United shirt, and England boss Southgate has been encouraged by the striker’s upturn in fortunes in recent weeks.
“There were certain players we wanted to keep involved this time, but that said it doesn’t mean that this is the end for some of the others who aren’t involved,” Southgate said after naming his September squad.
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“Marcus Rashford, for example, has shown some encouraging signs recently. He is a player we know well so if he can perform at a high level in the next few weeks, he of course will be under consideration.”
While Rashford may be fit for Sunday, Man United are still plagued by a number of other injury concerns, and Harry Maguire is reported to have picked up a hamstring problem in England’s 3-3 Nations League draw with Germany on Monday.
The 29-year-old was at fault for Die Mannschaft’s first two goals on another troubling night, and it has been claimed that he could be out for a couple of weeks after playing through the pain barrier at Wembley.
However, Ten Hag would have been expected to continue with the partnership of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez after Maguire was dropped to the bench in the wake of August’s 4-0 defeat to Brentford.
Martial, Donny van de Beek, Brandon Williams, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Facundo Pellistri and Martin Dubravka have also been nursing injuries ahead of Sunday’s derby, with Man United currently occupying fifth spot in the Premier League table.
