Five Man Utd stars facing possible one-match ban going into Newcastle clash

Five Manchester players are walking a disciplinary tightrope heading into their next match against Newcastle.

Any player who picks up five bookings from their side's first 19 Premier League games will serve a one-match suspension in the Premier League.

After their fixtures against Brentford and Brighton were postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak, United have only played 16 league games which means they will have several players who will have to tread carefully before their 20th match to escape a ban.

Bruno Fernandes, Fred, Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay find themselves in this position ahead of the Premier League clash at St. James Park on December 27 as they all have four yellow cards to their name this season.

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Ralf Rangnick has opted to stick with the 'McFred' partnership in the middle of the park since arriving at the club, but there is a chance that United fans could see Donny van de Beek and Nemanja Matic play an important role during the festive period.

Shaw's absence wouldn't be a disaster for United as they have Alex Telles waiting in the wings who has impressed since the German's appointment as interim boss.

Bruno Fernandes will need to be careful not to pick up a book against the Magpies, while Pogba is still out injured and won't be back well into the new year.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire have picked up three yellow cards and will need to be careful over their next handful of games to avoid getting a suspension.

Meanwhile, Man United's players finally returned to their Carrington training base on Tuesday after it was recently closed due to a Covid-19 outbreak that has stalled the Red Devils league season.

Two away games against Brentford and Brighton were forced to be postponed due to a number of players and backroom staff contracting the virus.

The club confirmed the players will be 'staggered' in their return to training, instead of all members of playing staff coming back at once.

Marcus Rashford, Raphael Varane, Fred, Mason Greenwood, Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard, Maguire and McTominay were just some of the first-team stars who reported for training as normal.

There were still a few high-profile faces not pictured arriving at Carrington, including the likes of Ronaldo, Van de Beek, Pogba and Jadon Sancho.