Manchester United: Jose Mourinho Faces Crisis Ahead of Chelsea FA Cup Tie

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, March 4. Rooney is injured for United's FA Cup quarter-final tie against Chelsea on Monday evening. Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is facing a striker crisis ahead of Monday night's FA Cup quarter-final tie against Chelsea, with all of his forwards either injured or suspended.

Club captain Wayne Rooney was in line to start but a training ground collision with defender Phil Jones reported by The Daily Telegraph has the 31-year-old missing out.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is suspended, while Anthony Martial is injured and Marcus Rashford sick. That means Mourinho is past the bare bones of his available strikers and will have to shuffle his options, with midfielder Marouane Fellaini a possible candidate to play up front.

Mourinho suffered a 4-0 defeat in October, when his United side played at Stamford Bridge for the first time since he departed Chelsea in December 2015.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Sportswriter at Newsweek.

To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.

Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek magazine delivered to your door
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go
Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go