1. Baleba facing weeks out in blow for Carrick

Michael Carrick has revealed Carlos Baleba will be out for weeks with the hamstring injury the Manchester United midfielder sustained in Tuesday’s 3-2 victory over Roma. Baleba’s absence is a considerable blow to Carrick as he attempts to turn around United’s form and results.

The 22-year-old Cameroonian was signed from Brighton in the summer for £70m and had made a promising start. But before Tuesday’s injury he had managed only seven appearances, the first on 10 October after recovering from an ankle problem he had when he joined. “It’ll be a number of weeks,” Carrick said. “It’s definitely not this week and it won’t be any time over the international break [which starts on Monday]. It’ll be a little bit longer than that.

Carrick also gave an update on Patrick Dorgu, who has been unavailable since sustaining a hamstring problem with Denmark during the last international break. “He trained with us at the start of the week, so we’ve got to be patient with Pat,” said Carrick. “He’s had a good period of time now with a couple of hamstrings that we need to manage. But he’s slowly getting back with us, so we’ll have to see whether he can be involved at the weekend.”

Friday marked the 40th anniversary of Alex Ferguson’s appointment as United manager. Before Sunday’s visit of Aston Villa, Carrick was asked whether it was possible for him to reach the standards achieved by Ferguson at Old Trafford. United are 17th, separated from the relegation zone by goal difference.

“It’s not impossible,” said Carrick. “Anything’s possible. You’ve got to build, you’ve got to be realistic. You’ve got to put things in perspective as well, [with] the recent history that we’ve had and where we want to get to. It’s not going to happen in a blink of an eye. Success does take time, and we don’t like having to spend time, but it does take a period of time to build.” Jamie Jackson

2. Maresca backs Donnarumma to bounce back

Gianluigi Donnarumma has been backed by Enzo Maresca to rediscover his best form after high-profile mistakes in recent games. The Manchester City goalkeeper has made three errors leading to goals this season, notably against RB Leipzig on Wednesday when he was badly caught out of position.

Donnarumma will keep his place when City travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening, aiming to end a run of two Premier League defeats in a row. The hosts are yet to score at home and sit second from bottom.

“Overall he’s good,” Maresca said of his compatriot. “He’s quite relaxed, in terms of he recognises that he has done some mistakes but at the same time, as I said after the last game, also he has made some good saves. So it’s just a matter of balance, try to avoid mistakes and continue to do the right things.”

Donnarumma’s position is not under threat from his deputy, Gerónimo Rulli. “There are players that when they make some mistake you need a conversation with them, and there are players that when they make some mistake you just need eye contact to understand that he recognises, he knows,” Maresca said. “With Gigio it’s quite easy because every time he has made some mistake or something that was not correct, he recognises immediately. I spoke with Gigio, but again sometimes you don’t need to be so deep with some players.”

Nico O’Reilly is available but was left out of the England squad on Friday because he is not fully fit. The left-back will have treatment over the next fortnight for a back problem. Will Unwin

3. Rice determined to hit ‘another level’, says Arteta

Mikel Arteta has lauded Declan Rice’s “desperate” determination to improve after the midfielder was one of five Arsenal players called up to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.

Rice has contributed five Premier League assists this season – the most of any player – and a Champions League goal. Asked what had changed in Rice’s performance, Arteta said: “The mentality to go out and win football matches and to add another level to his game, another kind of threat and be much more unpredictable, and we’ve been working a lot on that.

“He’s desperate to improve every part of his game, and we need to do that while we maintain so many incredible things that he’s already done, but he’s on the right trajectory.”

Arteta agreed Rice had strengthened his ball progression, and explained his thinking behind dropping the 27-year-old deeper. “We cannot restrict his qualities and his capacities,” Arteta said. “He can drop back, he can progress play. He can drop back, he can carry the ball, he can be incredible in transition.

“He can win duels. He can produce passes by arriving, by playing far, by crossing the ball left or right, it doesn’t matter. On set pieces [too], he’s got a lot to offer. His shooting ability from long range as well is something that we need to use more.” PA

4. Emery aiming for ‘stronger’ Villa in contract talks

Unai Emery has confirmed he has held talks over signing a new contract with a view to building a “stronger” project at Aston Villa.

On Wednesday, the day after Villa’s 3-0 Champions League defeat at Barcelona, the club said they had held a meeting to discuss their long-term strategy beyond 2029, when Emery’s deal is due to expire.

The manager been linked with several clubs, including Manchester United, but was involved with long-term talks, including with the chair, Nassef Sawiris.

Emery said: “My ambition is to keep our consistency and how we are improving and building lots of things positively. It is a huge challenge. They decided, speaking with us last year, to build a new stand to add more supporters at Villa Park. That is a clear step forward to get better.

“How we are increasing our budget each year, and revenue through our performance by playing in Europe and improving players, selling players, then buying young talented players, this is the process and ambition we should keep in the future.

“I had a good meeting with Nassef Sawiris, very good meeting, very positive. Let’s talk next week, trying to get everything we spoke about together. We were speaking about how we can set our project stronger with a deal, yes.” PA