Football | EPL managers counting cost of international games

José Mourinho

Saturday, 8:30pm
Manchester U v Arsenal
H 2.63, D 3.4, A 3

The final round of international fixtures in 2016 did no favors for managers of some of the English Premier League’s title hopefuls.

Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger, in particular, will vouch for that ahead of the renewal of their often-heated coaching rivalry.

When Mourinho’s Manchester United and Wenger’s Arsenal meet at Old Trafford tomorrow for the standout game in the 12th round of matches, there could be some major names missing because of injuries sustained on international duty.

United captain Wayne Rooney has caused a furor by being photographed, looking bleary-eyed, alongside some guests at a wedding party taking place at the England team hotel on Saturday. But by then, he’d picked up a knee injury during England’s 3-0 win over Scotland the night before, causing him to miss Tuesday’s match against Spain, and Rooney is now doubtful for the Arsenal game.

It was the last thing Mourinho would have wanted, considering he is already without suspended striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and center backs Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling, as well as having serious doubts over the fitness of midfielder Marouane Fellaini and full backs Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia.

Wenger, meanwhile, will ask Alexis Sanchez for an honest assessment of his fitness after Arsenal’s star forward sustained a hamstring injury while away with Chile. Sanchez missed a draw against Colombia but returned for the 3-1 win over Uruguay on Tuesday, although his right leg was heavily strapped for the match.

Sanchez isn’t due to return to Arsenal’s training base until Friday and the match against United is a lunchtime kickoff on Saturday.

“What I will consider is the risk of injury because he played while recovering from a hamstring injury,” Wenger said yesterday. “I’ll consider the way he feels as well. On that front you depend on the honesty of the player, how they feel and how they recover.”

Wenger will be careful about overloading Sanchez, who has scored eight goals for Arsenal this season from his new position as converted striker. This time last year, Sanchez picked up a hamstring injury following a grueling run of back-to-back games for club and country and ended up missing the next two months, which proved to be a huge blow to Arsenal’s title hopes. Steve Douglas, Manchester, AP / Oddschecker.com