Manchester United suffer major blow as key man ruled-out of FA Cup final - boost for Newcastle United

Manchester United will be without defender Harry Maguire for their FA Cup final clash against Manchester City. Maguire hasn’t featured for the Red Devils since their 1-1 draw with Burnley at the end of April because of a muscle injury.

The former Leicester City man missed Manchester United’s last four league outings - including their 3-2 win over Newcastle United at Old Trafford last week. There was hope that he would be fit enough to feature in the final, however, Erik ten Hag has ruled him out of contention to play at Wembley: "Yeah, Harry Maguire is unavailable but for the rest, all of the players you mentioned are available. Friday final training and we make final decisions but the way I see it now it looks good.”

He continued: "Maguire? It (the injury) didn't heal as expected."

Maguire’s injury means Manchester United head to Wembley with just Jonny Evans, Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane as their only fit recognised centre-backs that have played any sort of football in recent times. However, Martinez has started just one match since early February - with that coming against Brighton on Sunday in their final league match of the season.

Varane, meanwhile, missed eight matches in a row before his own respective return and 21 minute cameo against the Seagulls. The former Real Madrid man will leave Old Trafford as a free agent at the end of the season, meaning Saturday’s game will act as his final appearance for the club, should he see any action.

Ten Hag did confirm that Victor Lindelof may be available for selection - although he hasn’t featured in the first-team since March. The Swedish defender, who is an international teammate of Alexander Isak and Emil Krafth, had been suffering from a hamstring injury and missed their dramatic penalty shootout win over Coventry City in the semi-finals with the issue.

Newcastle United need Manchester City to defeat the Red Devils in order to secure Conference League football next season. A win for Pep Guardiola’s side would secure them a domestic double and ensure that European football will return to St James’ Park next year.