Forward Marcus Rashford could return from a two-game absence when Manchester United host Chelsea, manager Erik ten Hag said yesterday as the Premier League club look to secure their place in the Champions League next season.
The 25-year-old England international, who is United’s top goalscorer this season with 29 goals in all competitions, missed their last two wins against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bournemouth, first with a leg injury and then an illness. “It looks like (he will be available),” Ten Hag said ahead of today’s home game against 12th-placed Chelsea. “Yesterday he returned to training. He looks quite fit but we have to see today what is the outcome of the training, how did he recover, and then we will make our choices.”
The Dutchman, who ended United’s six-year trophy drought when they won the League Cup in February, said his team are on the right path but acknowledged that they are a work in progress. After missing Champions League football last season, United are on track to secure a top-four spot in this campaign - they need a point from their final two matches against Chelsea and 10th-placed Fulham.
United are fourth in the standings with 69 points, three more than fifth-placed Liverpool, who have played a game more. “We are in a project and we want to go back and win trophies,” Ten Hag said.
“We win one trophy, but we want to win more trophies. We want to compete with the best, but we are still on a journey. But we think we are in the right direction. But we can always be better because good is not good enough. We want to compete with the best and then you have to be in the Champions League. So (it is) simple.”
United have the chance to win one more trophy this season when they face rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final on June 3.
Lampard confident of Chelsea revival after dismal season
Frank Lampard is confident that Chelsea will come back stronger next season after a dismal campaign, the interim manager said ahead of their last two Premier League games. Chelsea are 12th in the standings with 43 points.
Chelsea, who won the Champions League in 2021, will end this season without silverware despite their new US owners’ huge spending on new players. “There is a lot to go over to get to the bottom of it. The club has to explore every factor and make sure it does not happen again,” Lampard told reporters. “It could be a long process – from my experience, when you switch something off, it isn’t easy to switch on again.”
Lampard is optimistic, however, that Chelsea have the right structures in place. “When you look at the good models around that have consistency in those areas and decision-making and how the club moves forward, they’re generally more successful clubs,” Lampard said. “Where we are at the minute, that will be the work process to try and see where are we aligned, where do we want to get to and what does it look like.”
Lampard, who will step down from his role as temporary manager at the end of the campaign, urged his players to show fighting spirit against United. “They (players) have to show there is something resting on this game in terms of their personal and collective approach,” Lampard said. “We have to go with a very good mentality against a good team who are fighting for something we have had for many years – and now we don’t have it.”
Lampard said that forward Joao Felix would be back after missing the defeat at Manchester City but French defender Benoit Badiashile’s will be out for “months rather than weeks”.