Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes could be available for the Manchester derby on Jan. 17 after initial concerns over his latest ailment eased. The Times are one of several outlets to report that the midfielder\u2019s problem is not as serious as first feared and the club are thought to be “confident” that he will be fit in time for the meeting with Manchester City on Jan. 17.<\/p>\n
That projected recovery still leaves Fernandes absent for five fixtures across the congested festive period. The timeline covers the following dates and opponents:<\/p>\n
Dec. 26, 2025 \u2014 Premier League \u2014 Newcastle (H)
\nDec. 30, 2025 \u2014 Premier League \u2014 Wolves (H)
\nJan. 4, 2026 \u2014 Premier League \u2014 Leeds (A)
\nJan. 7, 2026 \u2014 Premier League \u2014 Burnley (A)
\nJan. 11, 2026 \u2014 FA Cup \u2014 Brighton (H)<\/p>\n
Fernandes has been remarkably durable for United, having missed a total of three games across his six years at Old Trafford. That record, and the playmaker\u2019s importance to a side that has struggled for consistency, helps explain the concern that surrounded the initial update. The report that the issue is manageable will provide relief to supporters and staff alike.<\/p>\n
The festive fixture list amplifies the cost of any absence. A one-month layoff at this time of year will cover a heavy run of matches; by contrast, the club could face a less disruptive spell had the problem occurred in February, a month in which United could go as many 12 days between competitive fixtures.<\/p>\n
There are encouraging signs in the opponents lined up during Fernandes\u2019s absence. Newcastle have been poor away from home, taking just six points from eight away games and scoring a modest seven goals. By contrast, Manchester City\u2019s Erling Haaland has already scored eight on his travels this season. United will hope the sequence of fixtures allows them to manage without their captain until the January meeting with City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fernandes could miss five fixtures: Dec. 26 Newcastle, Dec. 30 Wolves, Jan. 4 Leeds, Jan. 7 Burnley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1083,969],"tags":[1208,342,1006],"class_list":["post-5331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-utd","category-premier-league","tag-boxing-day","tag-bruno-fernandes","tag-captaincy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}