Manchester United handed double fitness boost for Arsenal trip as Leny Yoro eyes first involvement

Leny Yoro is expected to be included in the Manchester United squad to face Arsenal, while captain Bruno Fernandes is also fit for the midweek trip to the Emirates Stadium.

Summer signing Yoro has yet to make his competitive debut for the Red Devils following a much-hyped move worth £52million from French club Lille in July, having suffered a foot fracture in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal in the United States that required surgery.

United have been understandably cautious with the teenage defender as he steadily works his way back to full fitness, having originally been expected to be sidelined for around three months.

Yoro has continued to train at Carrington over recent weeks and is now ready to be involved in a matchday squad as a resurgent United team unbeaten in three across all competitions under new boss Ruben Amorim with back-to-back wins travel to take on an Arsenal side sitting second in the top-flight who have also turned a corner since the international break with three successive victories, scoring five times in back-to-back games.

"Maybe Leny Yoro is going to be in the squad," Amorim said at his pre-Arsenal press conference on Monday. "I felt that he is in a good moment now, his fitness is better, so I think he's going to be in the squad.

"I think he's a special talent. We have to be careful in this first moment because we didn't have too many trainings together, so he is training not alone but with a small group of players.

"He's really fast, he's a modern defender, and that is good when you want to press high and you leave a lot of strikers, especially in this league, one against one. I think he can manage that. He is very good with the ball, so I am very excited.

"We have to careful, we have to manage the load and the minutes in the beginning, but I am really excited to see Leny Yoro playing."

Amorim did not give much else away in terms of United’s other team news before Arsenal, with unnamed players needing to be assessed ahead of the quick fixture turnaround and Nottingham Forest visiting Old Trafford on Saturday before a Europa League tie against Czech side Viktoria Plzen that is followed by a Manchester derby against City at the Etihad Stadium on December 15.

However, the Portuguese did confirm that Fernandes will be fit after fears sparked among fans with the skipper seen icing his ankle on the bench after coming off during the second half of Sunday’s 4-0 rout of Everton.

"The rest I have to see it because some players were tired and we have to assess tomorrow in training," Amorim said.

"(Fernandes) is fit to play, I see him already in this morning. He is fit to play, a guy that doesn't need a lot of rest, so he is prepared to play."

United will definitely be without Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo against Arsenal after both players received their fifth yellow card of the season at the weekend, incurring an automatic one-match ban in the process.

Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans have also been battling injuries of late, though fellow centre-back Harry Maguire made his return from a calf issue after almost two months out against Everton.