Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has pulled out of Gareth Southgate's England squad, handing Newcastle United a potential boost for their upcoming clash at St. James' Park. The Red Devils forward has been the standout player in the Premier League since returning from the World Cup, scoring 27 goals in 44 appearances so far this season.
However, Rashford was forced off in the latter stages of Man United's 3-1 win over Fulham in the FA Cup yesterday afternoon, suffering a knock. That knock has ruled him out of England squad for their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine this week.
As things stand, there's no indication as to how long Rashford will be ruled out. Eddie Howe's Newcastle will host the Red Devils at St. James' Park on Sunday, April 2 and could move back above Erik Ten Hag's side into third place if results go their way.
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Back-to-back wins over Wolves and Nottingham Forest has seen the Magpies claw back at the deficit and are just three points behind Manchester United, who are still fighting on three fronts. Ten Hag's men ran out winners over Newcastle in the Carabao Cup Final and are still in the FA Cup and the Europa League.
The Toon can now focus solely on the Premier League having had no European football to contend with this season, and having crashed out of the FA Cup at Sheffield Wednesday. However, the Toon have injury concerns of their own after Nick Pope was also forced to pull out of Southgate's England squad this week.
He has been dealing with a minor issue despite playing an entire 90 minutes in the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Friday.
He joins Miguel Almiron in the treatment room after the Paraguayan was ruled out for up to three weeks, according to reports. Newcastle's top scorer missed the win over Nottingham Forest last week, but is expected to return in time for the clash with the Red Devils, if the timeframe on his injury is correct.
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