Harry Maguire England Man United England
Harry Maguire Man United

Man United face Aston Villa at home in the 3rd round of the FA Cup on Monday and Ralf Rangnick could have some headaches while naming his central defensive partnership.

Against Wolves, the manager used Varane and Phil Jones as the central defensive pairing but we doubt if Rangnick is going to use the massively injury-prone Jones in two games in a row.

To make matters worse, Harry Maguire might not be fit in time to feature on Monday which means Victor Lindelof will probably have to start.

Lindelof was out with COVID but the defender has returned to training so if Maguire is not available then he will be the one partnering Varane.

The United boss told the press: “Victor is back in training, since yesterday, which is very good news for us. Harry hasn’t been able to train, as yet, and we have to wait and see how this develops, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

“With Harry, there is still a question mark but Victor will definitely be available for the game on Monday.”

Will Varane and Lindelof pair up in central defence for Man United?

Eric Bailly has left for the Africa Cup of Nations so he will be unavailable meaning Lindelof and Varane are likely to be named in the starting line up.

Now both these players have just come back from long absences meaning they are still not 100% fit to face a team like Aston Villa.

Varane did put in a decent shift vs Wolves but he was nowhere close to his best and Lindelof has just tested negative so he too will struggle to cope up with the intensity.

The ex-Real Madrid man has struggled with injuries this season and to date, he’s played only 745 minutes across nine league matches. Lindelof has also been in and out of the side, featuring in 13 PL games with a rating of just 6.73 out of 10.

Villa might have won just two out of their previous five Premier League games but they have been playing some snappy and fluid football in the past few weeks. And with the way Newcastle United and Wolves ridiculed the Man United defence, there’s every chance that Varane and Lindelof could have an agony outing.

Phil Jones was excellent against Wolves but we don’t think he’s ready to play two full-intensity matches within one week.

Read: 4-2-2-2 Man United’s predicted line up vs Aston Villa.

Read: Ralf Rangnick delivers a major selection hint for Man United’s FA Cup game vs Aston Villa.

Read: Man United set to beat Arsenal in the race to sign this 24 Y/O midfielder.