David de Gea absent from Man United side to face Sunderland

DAVID DE GEA was surprisingly left out of Man United’s side to face Sunderland in the Premier League today.

Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho was vague as to why the Spaniard was unavailable in his pre-match interview with Sky, simply saying that he had a “problem” and that the issue was not likely to keep him out of the side in the long term.

There was no mention of an injury to the star goalkeeper in yesterday’s press conference leading Sky Sports analysts Phil Neville and Jamie Redknapp to speculate that De Gea had been dropped.

Jose Mourinho has developed a reputation for falling out with players during his managerial career, and United players including Luke Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have felt the wrath of his criticism this season.

De Gea has received some criticism of late — he let a goal go through his legs in the midweek draw with Everton and also spilled a long-range effort on to the crossbar during the recent stalemate against West Brom.

You can follow our liveblog of today’s game at Old Trafford here.