Why Manchester United star will miss Fenerbahçe fixture

Manchester United will have to make at least one change to their starting line up when they face Fenerbahçe in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Erik ten Hag’s side defeated Brentford at the weekend to extend their unbeaten run to three matches and will be looking to build upon the solid foundations for the trip to Turkey.

They will have to do it without their club captain though, with Bruno Fernandes set to miss the match through suspension after he was sent off in their 3-3 draw with Porto earlier in the month. The 30-year-old was sent off in consecutive matches for United, but while his straight red card in the 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham was later rescinded, there was no grounds for appeal for his double yellow card offence in Portugal.

Fernandes had already been booked for a foul in the first-half of the match when he was sent off in the 81st minute for a high boot that caught defender Nehuen Perez. United were 3-2 down at the time of his dismissal but defied the odds to draw level through Harry Maguire in the final minutes of the match.

It means United might need to field a makeshift midfield against Jose Mourinho’s side, with Kobbie Mainoo certain to miss the match through injury, while Mason Mount has not featured in any of the last three matchday squads since he picked up an injury in the Tottenham defeat.

Ten Hag has six options to replace Fernandes in midfield with Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo perhaps the most compelling choices to occupy the central attacking midfield role. Christian Eriksen, Marcus Rashford and Mount are also other options, while United could change formation to compensate for their captain’s absence.