Man United take on a faltering Everton side in the Premier League on Saturday but the Red Devils will be without some very important players.
Speaking ahead of the tie, interim manager Ralf Rangnick has confirmed the return of Cristiano Ronaldo but apart from that, everything that came out of his mouth was gloomy.
Rangnick has revealed that Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay and most importantly Raphael Varane will all miss the trip to Goodison Park on Saturday
He said in his pre-match press conference: “Cristiano is back again, Luke is still injured, we had to take him off at half-time (against Leicester), he’s had his problems with his leg where he had the operation in 2015.
“The doctor told me they decided to remove two metal bolts in his leg and this will happen tomorrow and he will be out for the next two or three weeks.
“Cavani is still injured, Raphael Varane is still injured and will be missing out again tomorrow and the same is true for Scott McTominay, he’s having problems with the sole of his foot.”
Raphael Varane is injured again, with Ralf Rangnick stating the defender is "still injured", despite a 90-minute performance last week
Having strung together more than three games only once, Varane's injury issues have quietly been a massive problem this year.@KobbyKyeiSports pic.twitter.com/HdKlqH0CZH
— Augustus Piloo (@AugustusPiloo_) April 8, 2022
Does the Man United manager have proper replacements?
Luke Shaw picked up a knock against Leicester City and in that match, Alex Telles replaced him at left-back. The same arrangement will follow this weekend as well.
The midfield area could be an issue though because in McTominay’s absence Paul Pogba is likely to come into the side and the Frenchman is nowhere as industrious as McTominay.
Fred is playing in a more advanced role under Rangnick and even Pogba likes to play in the attacking areas so there’s a chance that the interim boss might snub the Frenchman and go ahead with Nemanja Matic.
Varane has been massively injury prone as he’s played only 18 Premier League games this season and his absence might just hand Everton a slight edge. The pairing of Maguire and Lindelof has been really mediocre and if they are playing in central defence then Lampard’s chance will have a genuine chance at winning.