Man Utd Handed Huge Selection Boost for Manchester Derby

At least one member of United’s AFCON contingent will be available for next Saturday’s visit from Man City.

Manchester United face Manchester City next Saturday. / Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images

Cameroon’s loss is Manchester United gain. By falling to a 2–0 defeat in Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal against hosts Morocco, Bryan Mbeumo is set to be available for next weekend’s lofty derby against Manchester City.

A lot has changed during Mbeumo’s month away on international duty. Ruben Amorim’s relationship with United’s hierarchy unravelled so spectacularly that the club were forced to sack the disgruntled head coach.

The Red Devils turned to the emergency interim alternative of Darren Fletcher, yet the former midfielder could very well be replaced by another caretaker by the time Mbeumo lines up next Saturday’s derby at Old Trafford.

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Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Michael Carrick are the two leading contenders and both will surely be grateful to have Mbeumo back available. United won just one of their first five games without the team’s top scorer, failing to beat three sides currently slumped among the Premier League’s bottom five.

Bryan Mbeumo has enjoyed a great start to his Man Utd career. / Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Patrick Dorgu had to be called upon in a more attacking role and duly scored his first goal for the club while also delivering two assists. Matheus Cunha managed to double his tally for the season with strikes against Aston Villa and Leeds United—yet neither led to wins.

Mbeumo hasn’t featured for United since the bonkers 4–4 draw with Bournemouth in mid-December yet still leads the team for goals, xG, shots on target and touches in the penalty area. He also serves as one of the team’s chief creators and routinely hauls the gravity of the squad forward with his repeated surges upfield.

Brighton & Hove Albion boss Fabian Hürzeler was not alone in his succinct assessment of the £65 million ($87.2 million) deal to bring Mbeumo to Old Trafford from Brentford this summer: “Money well invested.”

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Man Utd Still Sweating Over AFCON Absentees

Noussair Mazraoui is one of Morocco’s key regulars. / Matt McNulty/Getty Images

While United will regain the services of Mbeumo, they will be without Noussair Mazraoui until travelling to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on Sunday, Jan. 25.

The Morocco international played the full 90 minutes of Friday’s 2–0 win over Mbeumo’s Cameroon. The hosts, who came into the competition as suffocating favourites, denied their opponents a single shot on target, although Mbeumo did have a strong penalty appeal waved away.

Amad Diallo is the third and final member of United’s AFCON contingent and also remains involved in the competition. Only Morocco’s Real Madrid forward Brahim Díaz has outscored Ivory Coast’s versatile wideman this winter and he will have the chance to add to his three-goal haul against Mohamed Salah’s Egypt in Saturday’s last quarterfinal.

The winner of that tie will play Senegal in a semifinal on Jan. 14 while Morocco are set to face one of Algeria or Nigeria on the same day. All four nations which make it past the quarterfinals are entitled to stay in Morocco until at least Jan. 17, when there is a third-place playoff scheduled the day before the final.

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