Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is set to be boosted by the return of Jadon Sancho and Luke Shaw to his squad for the trip to Liverpool on Sunday.
Both players sat out the Red Devils' comeback win over West Ham on Wednesday, which saw United reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Ten Hag's side now face a trip to Anfield for the second North-West Derby of the campaign this weekend.
With his team still competing on three fronts, the Dutchman will need to utilise his squad over the closing months of the season. To that end, he will be happy to be able to welcome back both Sancho and Shaw to the fold against Jurgen Klopp's men.
Sancho has recently returned after an extended break to have a major impact on the side, while Shaw has been one of the top-flight's best left-backs this campaign. And Ten Hag has now confirmed he expects both to return to the reckoning against Liverpool.
"I think we will have players back. Yesterday [against West Ham] Luke Shaw was not available, so we expect him back. Sancho was ill, but we will have to wait and see how that develops but I think he could be [available] as well," the United boss said.
The duo are expected to be the only two returning players for United this weekend. Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek remain sidelined for the long-term, while Anthony Martial is still struggling with a hip issue.
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Ten Hag's side are riding on a high after a successful week that saw them lift the Carabao Cup before defeating West Ham. But the Dutchman believes a difficult challenge lies in store for his team at Anfield.
"It is, of course, a test. But we're facing Liverpool and we're really looking forward [to it], I know these players, my squad, my team will be prepared to go and fight, to go with confidence but we know it's going to be difficult," he added.
"We know we have to suffer, we have to sacrifice to get a good result. I think we had also away from home some good performances.
"For me, there's no difference. The pitch, everywhere, is the same size, there are three [officials] refereeing and a fourth [official].
"The ball is round, there's air in the ball. So we have to play and make it our game. Of course we know the ambience will not be supporting us, and you have to deal with that. But as I said, our players like that.
"They like playing in such atmospheres. We like to play. We have energy from playing every third to fourth day, so we want to keep that going but think about it game by game, so Sunday [is the] next game."
