A knock picked up against Juventus has sidelined the midfielder, while Alexis Sanchez could yet see game time off the bench
Jose Mourinho has explained that an injury has kept Paul Pogba out of Manchester United’s must-win derby against Manchester City on Sunday.
The United boss sprung a surprise by leaving the France international out of his squad at the Etihad Stadium.
Nemanja Matic, Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera instead get the nod in midfield, as United look to close the gap on the Champions League places with victory against their arch-rivals.
But according to Mourinho, who has been accused of having a frosty relationship with Pogba, the decision to leave him on the sidelines owes to physical reasons.
“Paul is injured. He was injured during the game in Turin. He resisted. He felt that he could resist,” he explained to Sky Sports prior to kick-off.
“He felt that it was such a crucial match for the team. He made that sacrifice for us, and then it was impossible for him to recover for this match.
”He is a very important player for us. People sometimes like to focus on the little problems in his performance, and we do the same.
“We try to make him the complete player. But his qualities are so, so good, and so important for the team at many different levels.
“Of course we are going to miss him, but I am just speaking about Paul because you asked me. Our profile is to forget that he is not available though and to focus on the ones that are and to trust the ones that are going to play.”
Alexis Sanchez, meanwhile, starts on the bench for the Reds, but Mourinho revealed that he could well see playing time on Sunday.
“Alexis is an option. Maybe the start of the decision [to have him on the bench] was because of his little problem in Turin, but he is completely available for the team.”
United kick off at the Etihad nine points behind Pep Guardiola’s men, who saw Liverpool leapfrog them at the Premier League summit on Sunday ahead of their later kick-off with a 2-0 defeat of Fulham.
Tottenham, meanwhile, sit seven points clear of Mourinho’s charges in fourth place, the last Champions League qualification spot.