Manchester United vs Sunderland: Wayne Rooney ruled out with injury as Henrikh Mkhitaryan returns to bench

Rooney misses out on David Moyes's return to Old Trafford

(Getty)

Manchester United will be without captain Wayne Rooney for the visit of Sunderland on Boxing Day after the forward was left out by Jose Mourinho due to injury.

Rooney did not travel with the rest of the United squad to Old Trafford from the nearby Lowry Hotel, and instead made his own way to the stadium. The club soon confirmed their team for the Premier League encounter, and confirmed that Rooney would not feature due to an injury picked up in training.

It means that Mourinho is forced into one change to the side that beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 last time out, with Juan Mata coming back into the starting line-up to fill Rooney’s place in the attacking midfielder trio. He makes one over change by recalling Daley Blind, with Matteo Darmian dropping to the substitutes’ bench.

Fit-again Henrikh Mkhitaryan returns to take a place on the substitutes’ bench after recovering from an ankle injury sustained in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham earlier this month, while Anthony Martial is also available if Mourinho wishes to call on the France international during the match.

The encounter sees former United manager David Moyes return to Old Trafford for the first time as a manager since he was sacked by the club in April 2014. Former United academy product Donald Love drops out of the starting line-up as Billy Jones is preferred, while Sebastian Larsson starts in place of Adnan Januzaj, who cannot play under the terms of his loan deal from United.

Teams:

Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Blind; Carrick, Herrera; Lingard, Pogba, Mata; Ibrahimovic.

Subs: Romero, Smalling, Darmian, Fellaini, Mkhitaryan, Martial, Rashford.

Sunderland: Pickford; Jones, Denayer, Djilobodji, Van Aanholt; Larsson, Kone, N’Dong, Borini; Defoe, Anichebe.

Subs: Mannone, Love, O’Shea, Asoro, Honeyman, Khazri, Embleton.