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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Tyrone Marshall

Why Bruno Fernandes isn't in the Manchester United squad vs Tottenham

Manchester United will be without Bruno Fernandes for the Premier League against Tottenham through illness, but David de Gea is available after recording a false positive Covid-19 test.

Ralf Rangnick confirmed De Gea tested positive on Friday night, at which point Dean Henderson looked set to make his first Premier League start of the season.

But a second test on De Gea returned negative, as did a subsequent PCR test, and the Spaniard is in the starting line-up against Tottenham.

READ MORE: United vs Tottenham LIVE team news and updates

There are five changes in total from the team that were beaten 4-1 by City six days ago. Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Nemanja Matic, Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo all come into the side, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Scott McTominay and Anthony Elanga dropping out alongside Fernandes.

“We had a false positive test on David last night but we decided to have a second test, that was negative, then a PCR was negative and that’s why we can play him," Rangnick told MUTV of the disrupted build-up.

“Bruno got ill yesterday, he couldn’t train and he cannot play, hopefully he’ll be back for Tuesday but today he is out."

Rashford might be the big beneficiary of Fernandes' absence, getting the start he's been asking for in a week when his future at the club has been questioned, with Jadon Sancho also on the wing and Ronaldo leading the line.

“We decided to play with both [Marcus and Jadon] to start with, I'm looking forward to a top performance from our side," said Rangnick.

United will fall below Tottenham if they lose this game but Rangnick is demanding a response from last week's 4-1 defeat at the Etihad.

“We’re aware of [how big a game it is], we played a poor second half at the Etihad, but it doesn’t make sense to look back in anger, we have to show that aggression and anger in the pitch, it’s the perfect day, the perfect opponent to show a reaction," he said.

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