Manchester United vs Manchester City: Marcus Rashford set to miss out despite hat-trick for England Under-21s

Rashford has scored four goals in his last two matches but looks set to start the Manchester derby this weekend on the substitutes' bench

Marcus Rashford looks set to miss out on the starting line-up for Manchester United vs Manchester City (Getty)

Scoring a hat-trick for England’s Under-21s this week has not been enough to convince Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho that Marcus Rashford should return to the starting line-up for this weekend’s derby with Manchester City, with reports suggesting the teenager will remain on the substitutes’ bench.

18-year-old Rashford was dropped down to the Under-21s after featuring in the senior set-up during Euro 2016, and responded by striking three goals in the 6-1 victory over Norway Under-21s. With Rashford currently out of the United starting line-up, many expected the hat-trick to be enough to persuade Mourinho that the young Englishman should start, possibly in place of out-of-form forward Anthony Martial.

The 20-year-old has not scored this season and suffered a frustrating Euro 2016 campaign that appears to have robbed him of his confidence. The Frenchman has been deployed on the left of Mourinho’s three-man support for Zlatan Ibrahmovic, but he was withdrawn after an hour in the recent Premier League match against Hull, while Rashford came off the substitutes’ bench to replace Juan Mata and score the winner in the 1-0 victory.

With Rashford already off the mark for the season despite playing just 19 minutes of competitive football since Mourinho took over in the summer, United fans have called on the Portuguese to find space for Rashford in the starting line-up. Given that Ibrahimovic has hit the ground running at Old Trafford with three goals in his first four matches, Mourinho is unlikely to replace the Swede, and Mata has also made an impressive start to the season, leaving either Rooney or Martial at risk of being dropped.

That prospect is unlikely though as the Daily Mail reports that Rashford will have to make do with a place among the replacements for the Manchester derby, meaning Mourinho is likely to go into the crunch match against Pep Guardiola’s side with an unchanged line-up – providing Marouane Fellaini and Luke Shaw come through late fitness tests.

Mourinho sees Rashford as an out-and-out striker, and as a result will not choose to stick the forward out wide and nullify his impact when playing centrally. Martial may not be safe from the drop though, with Mkhitaryan also pushing for a starting spot for the derby.

Premier League Table and Fixtures 2016/17 | PointAfter

Supporters may not have to wait long to see Rashford in action though as it’s added that Mourinho is planning to deploy the striker in the Europa League match at Feyenoord next week as United get their European campaign underway. Mourinho will expect United to qualify from their Europa League group with ease, and as such is expected to deploy a weakened team to his regular Premier League set-up.

Likely teams:

Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Blind, Bailly, Shaw; Pogba, Fellaini; Mata, Rooney, Martial; Ibrahimovic.

Manchester City: Bravo; Zabaleta, Stones, Otamendi, Clichy; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva; Sterling, Nolito, Iheanacho.