Chelsea v Manchester United team news: Wayne Rooney misses out while John Terry fit again but likely to miss out

United boss Jose Mourinho heads back to Stamford Bridge with a decision to make about Wayne Rooney

CHELSEA boss Antonio Conte was dealt a blow when John Terry aggravated the ankle injury he sustained at Swansea last month.

But the Blues legend is fit for the Manchester United clash and could face old boss Jose Mourinho after he was unable to train on Thursday.

Terry, 35, had undergone extensive fitness work and was an unused substitute for last Saturday’s thumping 3-0 win at home to champions Leicester.

Conte should welcome back midfield ace Cesc Fabregas and defender Branislav Ivanovic to the squad after the pair picked up slight knocks.

Kurt Zouma is also making good progress as he returns from a knee injury.

Manchester United's out-of-form England captain Wayne Rooney looks like returning to the bench despite leading the side to a 4-1 Europa League win over Fenerbahce on Thursday.

He only came on for the last 13 minutes of the Red Devils' goalless draw at Liverpool on Monday night and no longer appears to be a first-choice pick for Premier League games.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be available as United chief Mourinho makes his first return to Stamford Bridge since being given the boot by the Londoners last December.

Armenian midfield ace Mkhitaryan has failed to shine since his summer arrival from Borussia Dortmund and picked up a slight thigh injury.

LIKELY LINE-UPS

Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Alonso, Moses, Kante, Matic, Hazard, Willian, Costa.
MAN UTD: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Bailly, Shaw, Pogba, Herrera, Lingard, Mata, Rashford, Ibrahimovic.

More games: friv

Bastian Schweinsteiger ready to fight for his place at Manchester United

Manchester, Aug 24: Manchester United's veteran midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger on Wednesday insisted that he is ready to fight for a place at the football club after being sidelined by new coach Jose Mourinho.

The former Germany captain has been frozen out of the first-team since Mourinho's arrival in the summer, and has been training with the reserves while the club attempts to find a potential suitor for the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner.

Bastian Schweinsteiger in action for Manchester United (Image courtesy: Bastian Schweinsteiger official Facebook page)

With eight Bundesliga titles and a Champions League win to his name, he left Bayern Munich for United last summer and made 13 English Premier League (EPL) starts under Louis van Gaal during an injury-hit 2015/16 season.

But he insists that if United do want to offload him, he will not move to another European club.

"MUFC will be my last club in Europe. I respect other clubs. But Manchester United was the only one which could make me leave Bayern Munich," Schweinsteiger wrote on Twitter.

"I will be ready, if the team needs me. This is all I can say about my current situation. I want to thank the fans for the amazing support over the last few weeks," the 32-year-old added.

Schweinsteiger has two years left of the three-year contract he signed with United last summer.

New manager Mourinho has already decided the German has no future at United, with Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin all ahead of him in the midfield pecking order.

Schweinsteiger is one of a handful of senior stars Mourinho is prepared to jettison, with Marcos Rojo also unwanted.

Morgan Schneiderlin relishing Man United pre-season tour opportunity

Morgan Schneiderlin has expressed his excitement ahead of Manchester United’s pre-season tour to China.

The Man United squad will fly out to China soon after their pre-season match with Wigan on Saturday, and will play matches against Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Galatasaray.

He enjoyed a largely positive first season at Old Trafford but faded away as the season entered its climax.

However, the Frenchman is keen to reinstate himself as a first team regular during the side’s pre-season tour.

“It will be nice for the team to discover China, to go there and see how much the supporters love the club,” he said.

“It’s about dedication every day in everything you do. You represent the club and in every football game, every training session, you need to be the best.

“You need to dedicate your life to football. I did it before, but at United you need to do it even more. Every day is a challenge and every day you get questioned again about your abilities, so I enjoy it.”

Louis van Gaal‘s decision to adopt a different formation after the 3-0 thrashing at White Hart Lane in April served as a detriment to Schneiderlin. This was because the Dutchman went from using two holding midfielders to just one, choosing Michael Carrick to fulfil the single holding midfield role on the pretext of his superior passing game.

However, Schneiderlin at his rampaging, no-nonsense best, serving as a constant thwarting presence in midfield, is the type of player that Mourinho cherishes and loves to use. If the 26-year-old can perform with his usual energy and power, he’ll be a valuable asset for the 53-year-old next season.

Manchester United Fan View: Bailly, a utility man who could become a bargain

Asif Norat on the arrival of defender Eric Bailly, Jose Mourinho's first signing as Old Trafford boss.

Eric Bailly has become Jose Mourinho’s first signing as United boss, snapped up for £30m from Villarreal. Most United fans will be scratching their heads wondering who the player is and some will wonder if this was a big call by the Special One.

First signing of the summer, a defensive option

It’s not a surprise that Manchester United’s first signing is a centre-back, especially when you look back at the injuries the side faced last season. United suffered the third most injuries of all of Premier League sides, with Luke Shaw been out since the middle of September and Phil Jones missing with various injuries for most of the campaign.

The arrival of Bailly could mean Mourinho is looking to build a side that will last longer than his contract, as the Portuguese will work on bringing in more additions with two months left until the new season.

At Villarreal, Bailly was also used as a full-back and the 22-year-old has shown how solid and rapid he is for a defender, which makes you believe he will fit into the Premier League very easily. After a season with Daley Blind at centre-back a natural defender during the transfer window was needed, but the Dutchman deserves a lot of credit for his consistency in a position where many thought he would fail due to his lack of height and pace.

One of the top young defenders from La Liga

Bailly was part of a Villarreal squad that was fantastic in La Liga and the Europa League this season. The side finished in fourth which will result in Champions League nights returning at Estadio El Madrigal next season and went on to the semi-final of the Europa League. Marcelino’s men completed over 15 clean sheets in La Liga, with Bailly playing a big role at the heart of defence.

A big positive for the new United manager is that Bailly has already proved himself in the big games in La Liga, when starting for Villarreal, the side only lost one out of four matches against the top three sides. The Ivory Coast defender also earned a Man of the Match award during 1-0 win against Real Madrid.  

With former Villarreal defender Gabriel Paulista leaving the club for Arsenal in 2015, Bailly cost the Yellow Submarine a fee close to €6m. Not to forget he went on to establish a strong partnership with Victor Ruiz, after regular starter Mateo Musacchio suffered a nasty injury which meant he was out for half the season.

Style of play

During his first interview at the club, Bailly said: “I hope to put a smile on the faces of Manchester United fans with my style of play and what I achieve at the club.” He has nearly all the abilities to thrive in the Premier League; strong, fast and can play in other positions too. United have lacked a bit of attacking support from the full-backs this season, if Bailly is needed at right-back there will definitely be a lot of chances of him thriving on the counter-attack with his speed and stamina.

Bailly is slightly shorter than Smalling but definitely stronger, so he should meet the requirements of being a tough centre-back to beat in the Premier League. His performances have been pretty much solid – completing more tackles compared to Smalling and more blocks than the whole United squad despite playing only 25 league games this season.

He stands at 6ft 1in, is a good ball playing defender which makes him the full package. Bailly can be very aggressive which could lead to a few silly fouls. But the main task for him will be learning English as soon as possible, he currently speaks only French so he will definitely receive some assistance from Morgan Schneiderlin and Anthony Martial to adapt to the English culture.

English soccer's superpowers shown up by little Leicester

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — One by one, English soccer's supposed superpowers fell off the relentless pace set by Leicester in the Premier League title race.

Liverpool and defending champion Chelsea were out of it by Christmas, by which time they'd fired their managers. A sorry set of results over December and January did for Manchester United's realistic title ambitions. Manchester City, attempting to win trophies on four fronts, had imploded by the end of March, while Arsenal's familiar early-spring collapse ruined its chance of a first league trophy since 2004.

Tottenham, itself a surprise challenger, offered the last hope of taking the title race to the wire, but bowed to the pressure of must-win games in the run-in.

It left Leicester — little Leicester — to celebrate one of the most unlikely successes ever in sports. And it left officials, players and staff of the Premier League's heavyweight clubs embarrassed and perplexed.

"We all feel guilty," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, speaking for the league's traditional elite, "and we are all looked at like it's a shame we are not winning the league because Leicester are at the top."

How could they let this happen?

A number of reasons contributed to the failure of England's giants to keep up with Leicester: complacency, arrogance, laziness in the transfer market, European commitments, the financial boom in English soccer, and plain old bad luck. They combined to allow an imposter to shake up the established order like never before.

And still they might not have learnt their lesson. Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini has suggested Leicester's rise was nothing more than a blip.

"I don't think it's a lesson," Pellegrini said in Spanish newspaper El Mundo. "(Leicester) is a very well-organized team, with very few injuries. They have great merit, but I do not think they will remain at the top for eight or 10 years. All big teams have money at their core."

But it's that kind of dismissive attitude that may have cost financial powers like City this season.

City splashed out close to $200 million on big names such as Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne and Nicolas Otamendi in the offseason. Chelsea's most high-profile summer recruit was Radamel Falcao, once among the world's great strikers but an injury-prone flop at United last season. United, meanwhile, took its spending in two years under Louis van Gaal to about $375 million by bringing in the likes of Memphis Depay, Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin.

And look where those mostly obvious signings got them. Leicester has shown that astuteness, rather than the size of a club's budget, can be the most important attribute in the transfer market. N'Golo Kante, Christian Fuchs and Shinji Okazaki were Leicester's three top signings last offseason and were stars of Leicester's title-winning campaign. They likely wouldn't have been deemed big enough names for the likes of City and United.

"For a club like Leicester City, it is much more easy to buy players," Van Gaal said last week, by way of an attempted explanation. "Also, the pressure of the transfer of players is less big and also the pressure on the players to perform is less big. It is a big difference."

The big-club arrogance shows in other ways, too. City and Arsenal mostly refuse to bend their tactics in games according to who they are playing. Among City's thrashings this season was a 3-1 loss at home to Leicester in February — it was as if they were unaware of Leicester's brilliance on the counterattack.

Complacency struck Chelsea after its runaway title success last season. The side was a shadow of the 2014-15 lineup, with Leicester's team spirit putting Chelsea's players to shame.

The big clubs might also have taken their eye off the league because of Champions League and Europa League commitments. Like Leicester this season, Liverpool was Europe-free in the 2013-14 season and nearly won the league that year. Returning three days after a European fixture to play a domestic match is not easy any more, not in a division as competitive as the Premier League.

The league's new domestic and international TV deals, starting from next season, are worth $12 billion over three years and are split fairly equitably between the 20 top-flight clubs. Middle and lower-ranking clubs (as Leicester used to be) have more cash to build a competitive squad and resist the overtures of the big teams, as Everton did with John Stones and Southampton did with Sadio Mane last offseason.

Leicester has been lucky with injuries, allowing manager Claudio Ranieri to enjoy consistency of selection in the team's one game a week. At times, the injury lists of Liverpool, City, United and Arsenal have been horrendous as they juggle three or four competitions, and Leicester can expect more injury issues next season when they are involved in the Champions League.

But that is for next season. For now, Leicester can simply sit back and savor humiliating the biggest teams in England.

Schneiderlin, Fellaini and Memphis in Scholes’ firing line

Paul Scholes has taken a swipe at Morgan Schneiderlin and believes Manchester United should never have to resort “smashing the ball” up to Marouane Fellaini.

United were soundly beaten 2-0 by Liverpool in the Europa League at Anfield on Thursday, and had David de Gea to thank for the loss being less emphatic.

Louis van Gaal’s side now host Liverpool on Thursday in the second leg of their round of 16 tie, but Scholes claims Louis van Gaal does not have too many options for the return game.

Scholes discussed the game with Jamie Carragher as part of an in-depth interview with theDaily Mail. Here is the transcript.

Carragher: “So you’ve had your say and called United a ‘shambles’ but if you were Louis van Gaal, what would you do in the second leg? What team would you pick to turn it round?”

Scholes: “It’s very difficult, really. I’m not sure the squad is strong enough to win the game. Listen. We are at Old Trafford. We should be good enough to win the game. But what changes would I make?. I don’t think there is a lot of choice. I really don’t. He can give them shape, of course. But (at Anfield) it looked like he threw them on the pitch, picked a back four and said, ‘Do what you want’.

Carragher: “I’d never say I was very confident playing Manchester United but when I saw the team, with Guillermo Varela at right back, Marcus Rashford playing right midfield and no Michael Carrick? I thought that was huge. I had confidence then.”

Scholes: “When I saw the teamsheet my first thought was, ‘They’re going to get beat’. I thought Carrick should be playing. Michael probably isn’t in the best form of his life, he’s picking up injuries and he can’t stay fit. But he has to play centre midfield. He’s brave enough to take the ball.

“Coming to Anfield, bravery is the biggest thing. Having the balls to go and play. This is a tough, horrible place to play. It’s a tight pitch, everything is on top of you. But Michael possesses that ability to get on the ball and calmness.

“Morgan Schneiderlin didn’t want to do it. Marouane Fellaini isn’t someone you can play through. He played for one reason: so they could smash the ball up to him and they didn’t have to play through midfield. This is United you are talking about! Every time Fellaini plays, that happens.

Carragher: “So as an ex-player and a supporter, what do you think? From my own point of view, I think about United’s name but then I see the way they are playing. It feels like they have become a long-ball team. How do you feel watching that?”

Scholes: “It’s disappointing. But, deep down, I knew beforehand this would happen. If you play Fellaini, you can only play one way. You have to smash it to him. That isn’t Manchester United. That should never, ever be Manchester United. But, where we are, it is.

“Van Gaal is almost saying we haven’t got the midfield players to handle the ball, to handle the pressure of Liverpool. He is saying we haven’t got the players who can play one-touch. He’s saying if we go long and smash it up to Fellaini, Liverpool can’t win the ball off us.

“It didn’t work. Liverpool were brilliant. Liverpool were 10 times better than United. So much quality. Philippe Coutinho took Varela all over the place. They all ended up out of position. Memphis is nearly playing as a left back!

“United had no control in the middle of the park. If Michael is there, you still might not get control because Liverpool are good. But if you try it, at least you have the chance to get into position.

“Now even if Memphis does get into positions, he has been poor. In games against the top teams, his quality has been really poor. Martial is a young player who will become a top centre forward. But, as a 20-year-old, he is a second or third choice.”

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes slams Morgan Schneiderlin, 'he is too weak'

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has criticized the lackluster performance of French midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin who he believes have failed to live up to expectation after his big money move from Southampton to Manchester United.

Schniederlin was awful in the first leg of the Europa League tie with Liverpool, which the Red Devils lost 2-0 to Liverpool. 

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Paul Scholes said: 

"When I saw the teamsheet my first thought was, 'They're going to get beat'."

"I thought Carrick should be playing. Michael probably isn't in the best form of his life, he's picking up injuries and he can't stay fit. But he has to play centre midfield. He's brave enough to take the ball."

"Coming to Anfield, bravery is the biggest thing. Having the b**** to go and play."

"This is a tough, horrible place to play. It's a tight pitch, everything is on top of you. But Michael possesses that ability to get on the ball and calmness."

"Morgan Schneiderlin didn't want to do it. Marouane Fellaini isn't someone you can play through."

"He played for one reason: so they could smash the ball up to him and they didn't have to play through midfield. This is United you are talking about! Every time Fellaini plays, that happens."