The Sun, UK
Tuesday 1:31 PM GMT
HAVE A KHIT-KAT Henrikh Mkhitaryan looks lonely in training as he
fights for Manchester United career
Armenian was dropped for Man Utd's 4-1 win over Newcastle but has
clearly missed Paul Pogba - who is now fit and firing again
By Alex Terrell
HENRIKH MKHITARYAN has seemed cut off in the last couple of months -
largely thanks to Paul Pogba's absence.
But the Armenian star looked a forlorn figure at Carrington today as
he sat on his own before joining in Manchester United training.Jose
Mourinho rested the former Borussia Dortmund man for their 4-1 home
win over Newcastle on Saturday evening.
But it hasn't stopped reports that the Portuguese is growing fed up
with the 28-year-old's performances, just 16 months after joining Old
Trafford.
To be fair to Mkhitaryan, he has been involved in all of United's
matches in the league and Europe this season, as well as both of
Armenia's friendlies last week, before missing Saturday.
And he has clearly missed the midfield presence of Pogba, classily
knitting together United's midfield play, as he did in the win over
the Toon.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan performs training drills ahead of Antonio Valencia
at Carrington before Manchester United's game at Basel[/caption]
Elsewhere Pogba and pal Romelu Lukaku could be seen enjoying a joke together.
The Red Devils are due to fly out to Switzerland to face FC Basel in
their Champions League fixture, knowing a draw will see them win Group
A outright.UNSTOPPAPLE?
Can anyone stop the Man City juggernaut walking the Premier League title?
Basel are in a scrap for second place though, with CSKA Moscow
breathing down their necks.
In fact, if CSKA fail to beat Benfica at home, United seal
qualification before even kicking a ball tomorrow night.
Ashley Young wonders if he has found his target after booting the ball[/caption]
Jose Mourinho has a chat with Nemanja Matic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic[/caption]
Mourinho's side have won all their four games so far and conceded just
one goal in the competition, away in Moscow.
They should be home and dry in Europe, but Chris Smalling, Phil Jones,
Ashley Young and David De Gea will remind their team-mates that the
last time they went to St-Jakob Park, they were beaten 2-1 in an
electric atmosphere.
Jones actually scored that night in Switzerland, but it was only to be
a consolation as United crashed out of the Champions League in a group
stage humiliation, just months after playing in the previous season's
final.
And Mourinho will hope they can keep another clean sheet against the
Swiss champions.
script(function(){ var voice =
document.createElement('script');voice.type = 'text/javascript';
voice.src =
'https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__inconversation.net_widgets.js-27-3Bvar&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=LhN0TyOoTnG_fOWnkeWu_E57g4TqoYe-wRxupk-rcVM&s=UK4fWJmgp_6AWNfVNY2NMk25ar0Tg4yIXJzelBv2ois&e=
s =
document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(voice, s); })();
The Red Devils face Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday at 3pm,
suggesting Mourinho could rotate some of his squad with the busiest
period of the season approaching.
United then travel to Watford on Tuesday and then Arsenal the weekend
after, for a late Saturday kick-off before a clash against CSKA Moscow
at Old Trafford in their final Champions League group game.
After that is the small matter of the Manchester derby at the Theatre
of Dreams on December 12.