Jose Mourinho should have a near-full pool of Manchester United players to pick from for the big Premier League clash against Anfield on Monday. All the players have returned from international duty unscathed, and with quite a few staying back in order to regain full fitness, it looks like Mourinho will have a few difficult team decisions to make for this blockbuster match.
Only Phil Jones looks like missing out through injury, with the defender still recovering from the knee problem sustained last month.
The likes of Antonio Valencia, Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo have returned from international duty in South America and because this Premier League match will only be played on Monday, it gives them more than enough time to recover from their international exertions.
Mourinho also had a lot of players staying back from international duty, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan choosing to miss Armenia's games in order to get back to full fitness. Mkhitaryan has not quite found his place in the Premier League so far, but the playmaker will hope the fitness issues are behind him and a sound performance against Liverpool could be the kickstart he needs to showcase his undoubted talent.
Luke Shaw was another player who stayed back at the club, with Chris Smalling, Ander Herrera, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan Mata all able to hone their skills on the training ground during the international weekend. While Marouane Fellaini missed Belgium's win over Gibraltar, it was only through suspension.
This Premier League game against Liverpool could make a big difference in just how Manchester United's first season under Jose Mourinho goes, and club legend Eric Cantona believes the team have the ability to win the title.
"It's just the beginning," Cantona told Publico. "Manchester (United) can still be champions. Jose Mourinho is a successful manager at a successful club which this year has successful players.
"But this is an extremely difficult championship, full of great teams and great managers like Pep Guardiola."
Manchester United are currently sixth in the standings, five points behind leaders Manchester City, while they can go level with Liverpool with a win at Anfield on Monday.
