Will Jose Mourinho trust Wayne Rooney again, or will the manager finally drop his captain when Manchester United host Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday? Rooney has been a permanent fixture since Mourinho has taken over, and despite iffy performances, he has seemingly always been one of the first names on the teamsheet.
With United coming off two straight losses in the Premier League, a win really is a must to keep up with Manchester City and the rest, especially considering the form that Pep Guardiola's men are in. City play Swansea City in the later game on Saturday, and three points will be expected again.
United are currently six points behind the league leaders and their Manchester rivals, and what Mourinho will want is to get his team balance right, and if that is by dropping Rooney, it needs to be by dropping Rooney.
"He is my captain, he is the club captain, the players' captain and that is difficult because sometimes you are the club captain because you have lots of years in the club, sometimes you are the manager's captain because the manager likes you very much, sometimes you are the players' but not the manager's one," Mourinho said of Rooney.
"Wayne is the captain of the club, the manager and the players. He is trusted by the players, he is trusted by myself and he represents the club in a fantastic way as a player and person and what is now socially.
"Football is a different story. Football, everyone is the same, and if he has to go on the bench, he goes on the bench. If he has to stay at home, he stays at home. But that doesn't mean that you don't trust him or you have a problem. Not at all. We have no problems. He is our captain, but of course, no privilege – he is like anyone else."
That remains to be seen, because no matter the result, no matter the performance, Rooney has played, even in the EFL Cup win over Northampton Town in midweek. While the Rooney question will remain until the team is announced, one man who will not take part in this crucial EPL clash is Anthony Martial, who suffered a head injury in the loss to Watford last weekend, with Mourinho then revealing he also has an ankle problem.
Phil Jones is out as well, as the defender continues his recovery from a knee injury, but Luke Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have been passed fit.
Leicester City will take a late call on their number one goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The Dane missed the win over Burnley last weekend with a concussion, and while he has recovered from that problem, Schmeichel is now struggling with a muscular problem.
"Kasper is good," Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said. "(On Thursday) he made some training session, but he felt a little pain to a muscle so tomorrow (Friday) I will check. I am not a doctor but the concussion is OK.
"Let me check. If it is nothing serious then he will come and play, if not he will stay at home."
Defender Marcin Wasilewski is suspended for this match, while this game comes too soon for summer signing Nampalys Mendy.
Confirmed starting XI: Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Blind; Herrera, Pogba; Linard, Mata, Rashford; Ibrahimovic.
Leicester City: Zieler; Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs; Mahrez, Drinkwater, Amartey, Albrighton; Slimani, Vardy.
