Man United will welcome Liverpool on Sunday and Raphael Varane, Casemiro and Jonny Evans are all at risk of missing out.
Varane picked up an injury during the first half against Chelsea and he was replaced at half time by Jonny Evans. However, the 36-year-old could feature for only 20-odd minutes before the Manchester United senior pro also picked up a knock.
The two defenders weren’t the only casualties during the 4-3 loss on Thursday night because midfielder Casemiro has also picked up a knock and now all three are expected to miss the Liverpool game.
Raphael Varane has already missed several games this season due to injuries and his manager is unsure if he will be ready for Sunday or not.
Ten Hag told the press after the Chelsea game: “In this moment, I don’t know[ if he will play vs Liverpool or not]. I can’t help.”
Casemiro’s experience would have come in handy against Liverpool but the Man United manager won’t be too worried because the midfield department has players like Scott McTominay and Mason Mount to call upon.
Mount has been slowly getting minutes under his belt and he will be pushing for a start alongside young Kobbie Mainoo. McTominay scored against Liverpool in their recent FA Cup win so ETH will most likely give him the nod to play in midfield.
However, the central defensive position is a big worry for Ten Hag because if Evans and Varane are unavailable then Harry Maguire and Willy Kambwala will be the only two fully fit centre-backs. Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez are already out injured and they are ruled out for around a month.
Luke Shaw, Malacia and Martial are the other players who are in rehabilitation so if Evans and Varane cannot recover in time then the Man United manager will be without nine first-team regulars on Sunday.
Man United are in shambles this season and one of the major reasons for that is the fact that Ten Hag has not been able to play a regular backline in all these months. Varane has been on and off the team and his other preferred central defender Martinez, has been on the treatment table for most of the campaign. The Frenchman has started only 15 Premier League games for Man United so far while Licha has started only 7 matches. Lisandro Martinez just came back after a two-month injury lay-off but the Argentine international has picked up a fresh calf injury after playing just 21 minutes vs Brentford last weekend.
The situation has been so bad that Ten Hag has had to rely on 36-year-old Jonny Evans who has played in 19 league games. At the start of the campaign, Evans was given a contract and everyone thought the free agent would just be filling the numbers but here we are in April and the Northern Irish defender has played extensively in the heart of defence.
Harry Maguire has kind of redeemed himself at Man United this campaign but it is very hard to see him and young Willy Kambwal keeping Salah and co at bay for the full 90 minutes.
Manchester United are already nine points off the 5th spot so if they fail to win against Liverpool then their dream of playing in the Champions League will be shattered once and for all.
