Antonio Valencia fit for Manchester United's clash with Liverpool

Louis van Gaal has today held his press conference in anticipation of Manchester United's Europa League clash with Liverpool on Thursday. He said plenty of fairly routine things about it being a "big game" and how "football in England is very deep in the life of the people," but most important was the update he offered the onlooking journalists on United's latest team news.

The biggest story is that versatile wide-man Antonio Valencia will be in the squad to play Liverpool at Anfield. He's not played a single game since October courtesy of a troublesome foot injury, but will likely be on the bench for Thursday's encounter. Of course, that's partly good news -- squad depth is, after all, never a bad thing -- but let's also hope that Guillermo Varela continues to get a chance to shine down the right. After all, Valencia is 30 and not very good; Varela is only 22 and has been broadly very impressive since being forced into the first team.

Elsewhere, Bastian Schweinsteiger is now back in training but not yet up to full fitness, while Jesse Lingard will be unavailable through suspension. Juan Mata, who faces a suspension in domestic competition only, is expected to start.