Bruno Fernandes among six Man United players absent from training ahead of Liverpool showdown | OneFootball

Manchester United were without a number of first-team players for today’s training session ahead of their visit to Anfield on Sunday.

Liverpool play host to their eternal rivals in both teams’ first fixture after the October international break, and there are only two confirmed injury absentees for the Premier League champions in Alisson Becker and Giovanni Leoni (Premier Injuries).

There had been scares for Ryan Gravenberch and Ibrahima Konate on national team duty in recent days, although both seemed to have been precautionary in nature, and it’s hoped that they’ll be available to face the Red Devils at the weekend.

Who was absent from Man United training today?

As per George Flood for The Standard, Man United had several familiar faces absent from training earlier today as they prepare for their visit to Merseyside.

Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo, Matheus Cunha, Casemiro, Noussair Mazraoui and Lisandro Martinez weren’t involved in the session at Carrington, although the first four were given extended time off due to involvement with their respective national teams as recently as Tuesday.

The Morocco full-back linked up with his country’s squad this month but didn’t play due to an unspecified knock, while the Argentina defender’s comeback from an ACL injury may have to wait until the Red Devils take on Brighton towards the end of October.

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Liverpool badly need a return to winning ways against Man United

The Man United captain may have been conspicuous by his absence from training today, but along with Amad and the Brazilian duo, it seems as though that was purely down to a late return from international duty, and all four could be in contention to face Liverpool on Sunday.

It remains to be seen whether Mazraoui or Martinez (who scored at Anfield last season) will be fit in time for the weekend, but on the whole it looks as though – like Arne Slot – Ruben Amorim will have a mostly fully-fit squad to call upon.

The Red Devils have drawn on their last two visits to L4 despite languishing well below us in the Premier League table on both occasions, and the champions will be desperate to ensure that lightning doesn’t strike for a third time.

Liverpool will have their own point to prove on Sunday aside from the obvious yearning for bragging rights. The Reds come into this fixture off the back of three straight defeats, and they could be four points adrift of leaders Arsenal if the Gunners win at Fulham on Saturday evening.

Regardless of who might feature for Man United at the weekend, Slot’s side will want to show that what happened before the international break was merely a blip rather than the onset of a prolonged crisis.

You can watch Slot’s post-Chelsea press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: