Manchester United's confirmed line-up ahead of Sunday's derby revealed that Paul Pogba will not be involved in the crunch encounter. Romelu Lukaku, on the other hand, passed the fitness test but could not make the starting XI.
Paul Pogba picked up an injury in the comeback win in mid-week over Juventus. Having failed to train with the team on Friday, the 25-year-old Frenchman purportedly faced a late test to be ready for the trip to Etihad. However, he was not pictured among his teammates who made it to The Lowry Hotel on Saturday to make final preparations for the Premier League encounter.
The lineup released an hour prior to the kick-off of Sunday's game confirmed that Paul Pogba will not indeed be involved in action for Manchester United. The news comes as a huge blow for the Old Trafford who benefitted massively from the involvement of the Frenchman in the previous meeting with Manchester City.
A brace by the former Juventus man and Chris Smalling's strike sealed a 3-2 win for Jose Mourinho's side at the Etihad back in April. Paul Pogba's absence means that he has so far missed three out of five matches against Manchester City since he joined Manchester United from Juventus.
In the Frenchman's place, Ander Herrera was given the nod to feature alongside Marouane Fellaini and Nemanja Matic in a midfield trio. Romelu Lukaku was also replaced with Marcus Rashford while Juan Mata who starred against Juventus last Wednesday started on the bench alongside Alexis Sanchez.
Mourinho on Pogba's absence: "Paul is injured. He was injured during the game in Turin. He resisted. He felt that he could resist. He felt that was such a crucial match for the team. He made that sacrifice for us & then it was impossible for him to recover for this" (Sky) #MCIMUN
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) November 11, 2018
