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Live Coverage: Louis van Gaal's weekly Manchester United press conference

Follow Sports Mole's live coverage of Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal's press conference ahead of his side's match against Swansea City.
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Louis van Gaal has revealed that Adnan Januzaj will not be fit for Manchester United's match against Swansea City in the Premier League this weekend.

The Belgian picked up a knock during the club's Champions League playoff tie against Club Brugge earlier this week.

The manager also admitted that he is keen to avoid another defeat to Garry Monk's side after losing both fixtures against Swansea last year.

Read what else the Dutchman discussed below.


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Good afternoon! Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will be speaking to reporters shortly ahead of his side's visit to the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.

The Dutchman will be keen to break his duck against Swansea. His first match in charge of United was against the Swans on the opening day of the 2014-15 campaign, but Garry Monk's side completed the double over Man United last season.

INJURY NEWS! The manager has already given an interview to the club's TV channel, as he does every week before his press conference. He's confirmed that Adnan Januzaj picked up an injury against Club Brugge earlier this week, which will keep him out of the match.

Van Gaal will be returning to his home land as part of United's Champions League campaign. The draw for the group stage of the competition took place earlier this week, placing his side in a group with Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, as well as CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg. Another cup draw affecting United took place earlier this week, giving them a home tie against Championship side Ipswich Town in the third round of the League Cup.

United remain unbeaten in the league so far this season, following up 1-0 wins over Tottenham and Aston Villa with a goalless draw with Newcastle United last weekend, which currently puts them fourth in the table. Of course, it's still early days in the season.

Hopefully, the manager will be providing updates on the transfer saga involving David de Gea, who has not played yet this season while he continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid. United have been linked with an audacious move for Barcelona's Neymar as well this week. It will be interesting to hear Van Gaal's reaction to those stories.

Right then, the manager is ready to speak, so let's see what's on his mind this week.

Van Gaal starts by taking about Ander Herrera's performance against Club Brugge: "I had a theoretical scheme in my head that he could play at number 10, and he did it well against Brugge."

Van Gaal is asked what he thinks about the Champions League draw, and he replies: "It could be worse but it could be better also. I am not so interested, we have to look now to the clubs because these days shape is more important than it was in the past."

Van Gaal confirms that his assistant coach Marcel Bout will be watching their group rivals beforehand: "Marcel is already to the matches of Wolfsburg and also PSV. PSV have to play Feyenoord, so that's a big match in Holland, we have to analyse now."

Turning his attention to this weekend's opponents, Van Gaal admits that he does not want to lose to Swansea for a third time: "I don't want to lose again. It's the only club we could not beat or gain one point against. I hope we can improve and that we can show we are better than last year."

Sticking with Swansea, he adds: "My first match against against Swansea and we lost, now I have my 50th and I hope we can show we have improved. It will be difficult to beat them but we are much better prepared than this time last year."

Van Gaal is asked about the potential departure of Victor Valdes, but insists: "When we want to say anything then we say it, but not at the moment. We shall do announcements when we want to, not when you ask us."

Van Gaal gives a couple more bits of team news, confirming that Marcos Rojo has come through a match with the Under-21s, while Marouane Fellaini is available again after completing his suspension. Phil Jones is still out though as he continues to recover from mild thrombosis.

That's all from a fairly brief Van Gaal press conference this afternoon. It's no surprise to see that the Dutchman wasn't keen to discuss transfer plans, focusing on the trip to the Liberty Stadium instead. United fans will be disappointed to see that Januzaj won't be making the trip though following his recent return to the side.

So, join us again on Sunday to see if United maintain their unbeaten start to the season, are is Swansea can make it three wins in a row over Van Gaal. Until then, thanks for joining me this afternoon. Goodbye.

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Ander Herrera of Manchester United celebrates as he scores their first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford on May 17, 2015
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