David de Gea has labeled Anthony Martial as a 'top player' who he believes will help Manchester United while Marcus Rashford is sidelined.
Injuries have plagued United all season and just as they got Christian Eriksen back after a lengthy absence they lost star striker Rashford to a groin injury. Erik ten Hag is confident he won't be sidelined for long but any amount of time without your top scorer could be costly.
Especially as United face Sevilla, a team they have never beaten, in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie on Thursday. With Alejandro Garnacho also injured, the side is short on attacking options which could see Martial come in for his first start since the beginning of January.
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De Gea has bemoaned the loss of Rashford but believes Martial is capable of filling the gap. “Yeah, for sure he's going to be a big miss. He's been brilliant all season, scoring important goals for us," the goalkeeper told United's in-house media.
"But I think we showed already [with] people coming from the bench in nearly every game, they make an impact. We have a big squad, good players in front, so it doesn't matter who is going to play there, in that position, [everyone] is going to do a good job for sure.
“I hope so," he replied when asked if Rashford's absence provides an opportunity for Martial to step up. "We know what he is capable to do on the pitch. It's so good. When he is fit and he is ready to play, he's a top player. He can dribble, he can score, he can assist, so for sure he will be a big player for us.”
Sevilla are struggling in La Liga this season but De Gea insists their remarkable record in the Europa League means they remain very dangerous opponents. He added: “Yeah, of course, because they won the competition already on some occasions, and when it looks like they cannot win, they win it anyway. So that is how they do it.
"It doesn't matter how they are doing in the league: in the European games they change and they put everything [out] there and they win big games. So we have to be very ready to play against them and play a great game to beat them.”
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