{"id":674759,"date":"2026-01-05T05:21:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T05:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/674759\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T05:21:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T05:21:18","slug":"bruno-mount-injury-boost-5-4m-midfielder-impresses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/674759\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruno + Mount injury boost, \u00a35.4m midfielder impresses"},"content":{"rendered":"

We continue to rattle through the Gameweek 20 Scout Notes, with another deadline just two days away. This time, Leeds United 1-1 Manchester United<\/strong>, including an injury update on Bruno Fernandes<\/strong> (\u00a39.1m).<\/p>\n

AMORIM ON BRUNO + MOUNT<\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim has hinted that Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount<\/strong> (\u00a35.9m) could soon return from injury, possibly as early as Gameweek 21.<\/p>\n

In his post-match interview, the Portuguese said:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cJust focus on the game, let\u2019s prepare with what we have, I expect to have some minutes with Bruno, Mason Mount, maybe, we\u2019ll see. So, we have two more, with their quality, players ready to help us.\u201d \u2013 Ruben Amorim<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When asked specifically if Bruno and Mount could return on Wednesday, Amorim responded, \u201cWe\u2019ll see\u201d.<\/p>\n

We should hear from Amorim again before the Gameweek 21 deadline on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

CUNHA BACK IN THE GOALS\"\"<\/p>\n

In an often-frantic encounter, Matheus Cunha<\/strong> (\u00a38.2m) was undoubtedly Man Utd\u2019s best player.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian latched on to substitute Joshua Zirkzee<\/strong>\u2019s (\u00a35.8m) through ball to equalise, and very nearly grabbed the winner, clipping the outside of the post with a curling effort.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d previously had a superb strike on the volley ruled out for offside, too.<\/p>\n

Cunha banked a couple of bonus points for his efforts; however, it was Casemiro <\/strong>(\u00a35.5m) who surprisingly secured the maximum, even without any goals or assists.<\/p>\n

That was in part due to two big chances created, as well as quite a few defensive actions, such as two successful tackles and eight recoveries.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Casemiro banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points for the eighth time this season (44.4% success rate).<\/p>\n

As for Cunha, he\u2019s now produced three goals in his last five matches, with second-bottom Burnley to come on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

DORGU \u2018OUT OF POSITION\u2019<\/p>\n

Leny Yoro<\/strong> (\u00a34.2m) replaced Zirkzee in Man Utd\u2019s starting line-up at Elland Road.<\/p>\n

Patrick Dorgu<\/strong> (\u00a34.2m) consequently took up an advanced role in the right sided No 10 position, as below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Image from BBC Sport<\/a><\/p>\n

The \u2018out-of-position\u2019 defender pulled one first-half effort wide of the post and created a couple of chances for his team-mates, but ultimately lacked quality in the final-third.<\/p>\n

And that is essentially the problem for United with having so many defenders in advanced positions.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think the return of Bruno and Mount will at least help mitigate some of those issues, however.<\/p>\n

IN-FORM AARONSON<\/p>\n

Man Utd had a couple of extra days to prepare for this fixture, but Leeds are in very decent form right now and it didn\u2019t show.<\/p>\n

Positive and direct on the ball, Brenden Aaronson<\/strong> (\u00a35.4m) was a constant menace and netted the opener, sneaking in behind Ayden Heaven<\/strong> (\u00a33.9m) to finish well.<\/p>\n

The budget midfielder has now served up four attacking returns (one goal, three assists) in his last six matches.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn the last weeks he has shown some great, man of the match performances, and right now he is showing with goals and assists for us. He is still a young lad and can improve in a few areas, there\u2019s no doubt about it, but he is on a good path.\u201d \u2013 Daniel Farke on Brenden Aaronson<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Elsewhere, the in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin<\/strong> (\u00a35.9m) returned to Daniel Farke\u2019s starting XI after his midweek breather and was only inches away from another goal, with his effort from Anton Stach<\/strong>\u2019s (\u00a34.9m) delivery deflecting behind off the post.<\/p>\n

Stach notably banked DefCon points for the third successive Gameweek.<\/p>\n

Jayden Bogle<\/strong> (\u00a34.4m), meanwhile, missed out with a minor calf issue, but the influential Ethan Ampadu<\/strong> (\u00a34.9m) will at least return from suspension in Gameweek 21.<\/p>\n

In another boost, Sean Longstaff<\/strong> (\u00a34.8m) was fit enough for a place on the bench after his injury-enforced absence.<\/p>\n

\"Introducing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We continue to rattle through the Gameweek 20 Scout Notes, with another deadline just two days away. This…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[72141,205156,205157,94,205158,205159,158693,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-674759","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-aaronson","9":"tag-bruno-injury","10":"tag-casemiro-bonus","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-gameweek-20","13":"tag-mount-injury","14":"tag-scout-notes","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115840816933029801","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}