Entertainment

Marcus Rashford omission infuriates fantasy football managers in early kick-off

The striker has been in red-hot form but was rested against Fulham.
The striker has been in red-hot form but was rested against Fulham.

Marcus Rashford’s omission from Manchester United’s starting XI against Fulham had some fantasy football managers writing the game week off before it had begun.

The 21-year-old won the Premier League Player of the Month award for January, with five goals in his last six league games.

But the striker’s rising stock – he is selected by 41.9% of Fantasy Premier League managers – couldn’t save him from the bench after he suffered a dead leg against Leicester.

With many of those managers giving the England man the captain’s armband for the week as well, it was bad news for anyone looking for big points early on.

Some clung to the hope that Rashford might come off the bench and impact the game in some way, but with United taking a 2-0 lead in the first half, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer didn’t feel the need to risk him.

With Paris St-Germain, Chelsea and Liverpool all to come for United in February, such caution was probably wise from Solskjaer.

And while the omission will sting FPL managers this week, Rashford remains an attractive proposition for managers.

Will the United star prove influential in United’s difficult month?