Manchester United's 2025/26 season has been less a football campaign and more a medical drama with occasional corner kicks. As 2026 rolls on, the Premier League giants remain a club where the treatment table arguably deserves its own season ticket. Yet, ahead of a Saturday evening clash with Chelsea at Old Trafford, manager Ruben Amorim finally had something resembling good news: Mason Mount and Matheus Cunha were back in the mix. Cue the distant sound of United fans exhaling. 😮💨

The pair had both been substituted before the second half against Burnley at the end of August. Cunha pulled up chasing a long ball, his hamstring apparently deciding to take an unscheduled holiday, while Mount was withdrawn at the break in place of Kobbie Mainoo after grinding through the first half with an injury. It was the kind of double blow that makes a manager look at the sky and ask, honestly, what did I do?

Their absence was felt against Manchester City after the international break, where United slumped to a 3-0 defeat. The attacking ranks looked about as creative as a shopping list, and fans spent the week refreshing injury updates like they were tracking a delayed parcel. Would Cunha and Mount return for Chelsea? Would Amorim have to field a front line held together by hope and tactical tape?

According to BBC journalist Simon Stone, Amorim has confirmed that both Cunha and Mount will be welcomed back into the side to face Chelsea. For Mount, it is a reunion with his former employers, and Old Trafford will be watching closely. The midfielder signed for United two years ago, but injury worries have turned his Red Devils career into a stop-start saga. He made only 20 appearances in his first season, and last season was a similar story: just 27 outings in all competitions. At this point, his body and the physio room are practically pen pals.

Cunha, meanwhile, arrives with a different kind of reputation. At Wolverhampton Wanderers, he was the main man: 27 Premier League goals in just 65 games, a striker who could turn a quiet afternoon into a chaos engine. But injuries have already taken their toll at United, and the club will be hoping he can quash those woes as the season progresses. Cunha has yet to score for the Red Devils, and finding the net against a Champions League-chasing Chelsea would massively endear him to the fanbase. No pressure, mate.

Here is a quick look at United's current fitness picture:

That defensive news is where the smile fades. Portuguese defender Diogo Dalot is out with injury, joining Argentine centre-back Lisandro Martinez on the sidelines. Martinez has been out since the start of February with a knee injury, and Premier Injuries analyst Ben Dinnery ranks the World Cup winner as being out until the end of October. For United, that is not a small scratch; it is a hole in the back line that opponents will happily poke at.

So the Chelsea match becomes a test of two stories. Can Mount stay fit long enough to haunt his old club? Can Cunha finally open his United account and make the Stretford End fall in love? Or will the treatment table, that greedy, ever-hungry piece of furniture, claim another victim before the final whistle? ...

Amorim will hope for the first two. United fans, being United fans, will hope for all three and maybe a clean sheet as a bonus. In a season that has already been a rollercoaster with missing safety bars, the returns of Mount and Cunha offer something rare: actual optimism. Fingers crossed it lasts longer than a hamstring stretch.

For Chelsea, the warning is clear. Old Trafford may be missing Dalot and Martinez, but it might just have two creative stars back on the pitch. And if Cunha scores, the noise will be loud enough to wake the entire medical department. Whether that is a blessing or a curse depends on who is asking.

In 2026, as the Premier League's injury carousel keeps spinning, United's challenge is simple: keep the good news coming, keep the hamstrings attached, and maybe, just maybe, let the football do the talking.