FRED, TELLES OUT OF BURNLEY GAME

The Brazilian duo of Fred and Alex Telles have been ruled out of the Burnley game in the Premier League later this week. The two players returned respective positive results for Covid-19 and will miss the trip to take on the Clarets at Turf Moor on Tuesday night.

Left-back Alex Telles was not in the Manchester United squad for the FA Cup fourth round tie with English Championship side Middlesbrough as he had just returned from national team duty with five-time world champions Brazil. Compatriot Fred was able to make the squad for the Boro game despite the fact that he was also on national team duty with Brazil.

Brazil played two World Cup 2022 qualifiers during the recent winter break and the two aforementioned Manchester United players featured in just one of the two games. Fred was on for the entire duration of the game as hosts Ecuador forced Brazil to a 1-1 draw in the first of the two games with the two teams ending the game with ten men each. On his part, Alex Telles was not on the bench for the Ecuador game. In the second game which ended in a 4-0 home win over Paraguay for the Brazilians, Alex Telles played the whole game, while Fred was an unused substitute.

Manchester United could end the current season without a trophy after they were knocked out of the FA Cup by lower league oppositionBoro via the dreaded penalty shootout. The two teams played out a 1-1 draw at the home of Manchester United in 120 minutes thus paving the way for penalty shootout. Boro emerged victorious at the end of the shootout thanks to their 8-7 win over their more illustrious hosts to seal a place in the last 16 of the FA Cup where they will take on North London team Tottenham Hotspur at home for a place in the quarterfinals. For Manchester United, the Champions League is now the only realistic avenue for a trophy this season with a two-legged round of 16 tie with Spanish champions Atletico Madrid on the horizon.