Mata trusts Man United’s ability to deal with Pogba’s absence

CAIRO – 7 December 2017: Manchester United’s Spanish midfielder, Juan Mata, admits on Thursday that his team will miss Paul Pogba on Sunday against Manchester City. However, Mata believes that his team has many players who can replace him.

“He [Pogba] is a fantastic player, a very complete midfielder, he can do all things. He will be a big miss but another player will play and try his best. I think we have a good squad and we have good players to replace any other player,” Mata told the press on Thursday.

Pogba was Manchester United’s best player in their 3-1 victory over Arsenal on Saturday at the Premier League, providing two assists to Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard. However, Mata was met with a red card 15 minutes before the final whistle to miss the derby against Manchester City on Sunday.

Mata believes that his team is still in the title race despite being eight points behind the leaders, City. “It's a crazy league and it's too early to think that it's finished. We are doing what we have to do, we would love to be first in the table right now but I think we are doing lots of good things,” Mata said.

Manchester United faces local rivals Manchester City on Sunday at the Premier League. Mata is expected to replace Pogba in the game.