Man Utd face Newcastle United in the Premier League this weekend with a crucial tie against Lyon next week.
Ruben Amorim insists he will pick a Manchester United team that can defeat Newcastle in the Premier League this weekend, but admits he might need to rest some players ahead of their crucial Europa League second leg against Lyon next week.
United travel to the north east on Sunday afternoon to play a league match that falls in between their mammoth Europa League quarter-final tie against Lyon. United are almost certain to record their lowest Premier League finish this season, but could salvage their season with qualification for the Champions League.
It makes their home match with Lyon far more important than the trip to face Newcastle, and hands Amorim a selection dilemma as he looks to balance their priorities. United don't expect to have any players back this weekend, so there should be changes to the line up, and there is a chance club captain Bruno Fernandes could even be rested so that he is fully fit to face Lyon instead.
United star could be rested vs Newcastle
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Newcastle clash, Ruben Amorim admitted he would have to be careful with his Manchester United team selection this weekend.
"We will make this evaluation with all the staff and all the data that we have," he told reporters in Lyon. "Then, because we know already the players, we will try to protect the ones that it will be hard to play a lot of games. Bruno Fernandes is playing all the time and he is playing better all the time. Sometimes this kind of player doesn't play in every match, but we will address that.
"There is a great responsibility. We don't have a team that is really big and then we have players that I know cannot make 90 minutes in this moment, we have to be really careful. So we will try to address all these subjects in the game against Newcastle. But we have a great responsibility when we play any games. I will try to look at that, that is for sure. We have to face Newcastle with a team that we can be competitive to win the game.
"Sometimes winning games is the best way of preparing for the next one. Of course, I am going to be careful with some players but again we need to be competitive. When you are playing for Manchester United, you cannot go to the game thinking about the next one. So we are going to face this one and then we have three days. We are going to prepare for the next one without a lot of running and a lot of training. It's just recovering and then we will be fine on Thursday with our fans. But we need to face Newcastle in a way that we can win."
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