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Manchester United were dealt a huge blow when Bruno Fernandes picked up a yellow card vs Bournemouth, ruling him out of the game against Liverpool.
The United captain’s absence means that not only will the club miss their talisman, but they’ll also need a new captain for arguably the toughest fixture in the league.
Erik ten Hag has already said he has decided upon a name who’ll be captain but refused to say who it was in the press conference.
Here are the top candidates for the role-
Scott McTominay
The extent of the options available to Ten Hag for this game due to injuries is clear from the fact that McTominay is the prime candidate for the role.
The Scot has quickly become a crucial member of the first XI due to his goalscoring, even though a case can be made that his presence hurts the midfield balance.
However, in the absence of pretty much every midfielder except Amrabat and Mainoo, McTominay is an undisputed starter, which can’t be said for the other two candidates.
Marcus Rashford
A Manchester-born academy prospect captaining the team against their biggest rivals is a good story but doesn’t look like it’s the best time to do it.
Rashford is just coming back from an illness and his form prior to that wasn’t anything to write home about either. In fact, it can be argued that Alejandro Garnacho and Antony deserve to keep their place in the squad even after his return.
Still, if Ten Hag is banking on the emotional value of this fixture, then he could do worse than laying down the gauntlet for the player and asking him to come through with flying colours.
United are outmatched man-to-man for this game, so they need to make up that distance with sheer desire and effort. This could be the first step toward doing that.
Raphael Varane
It speaks volumes about United’s injury situation that the third-most realistic candidate for captaincy is a player who looked like he’d never play for United again before leaving in January.
Varane was sixth-choice at United at one point but injuries to Maguire, Evans, Martinez, and a Lindelof illness conspired to put him back in contention.
He has performed well since coming back into the team and with his vast experience of winning it all in the game, he becomes the natural candidate to be handed the captaincy.
Last season’s Varane would’ve been a no-brainer choice in current circumstances but things change quickly in football.
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