ESPN FC’s Ian Darke previews Manchester United’s midweek fixture against Newcastle and predicts whether or not the Red Devils will hold on to their top four spot by season’s end.
Manchester United are waiting to discover how long striker Robin van Persie will spend on the sidelines.
Van Persie, 31, will not feature in United’s game at Newcastle on Wednesday with the ankle injury he suffered during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Swansea City.
The Netherlands captain has already sat out Saturday’s 2-0 win over Sunderland and while United are assessing him, they are unsure how much matches he will miss.
After Newcastle, United face Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool in their next three fixtures and they are waiting to see when the 10-goal forward will be available, although manager Louis van Gaal suggested last week he will not be fit in time to play against his former club in the FA Cup on Monday.
Van Gaal added that he will not gamble on Michael Carrick against Newcastle, despite naming the midfielder on the bench against Sunderland on his return from injury.
“I took a risk with that,” he told a news conference. “As a substitute you can play 20 minutes, which he can do.”
Van Gaal said Carrick was only in the squad because Luke Shaw and Phil Jones were unavailable and both defenders, along with reserve goalkeeper Victor Valdes, could feature at St James’ Park.
Van Persie is United’s joint-top scorer this season despite a campaign disrupted by injury.
“It is difficult to say as, in every training session, you can be injured or the fatigue specialist can say he is not fit enough to play a game,” Van Gaal added. “And then I have to decide not to use that player. So it’s always difficult to say but the only injured player is Van Persie. It is too quick to say anything about that [a length of absence for the striker].”
The United manager is anticipating a difficult game against John Carver’s side.
“They always play with a very high rhythm, they want to give a lot of energy and the fans are supporting a lot,” he told MUTV. “They want to play football — I like that. I hope it shall be a good game and we shall win.”