Manchester United have been hit with “one more big blow” when it comes to injuries, Fabrizio Romano reports.
Man Utd injury news
The Red Devils and Erik ten Hag haven’t had any luck when it comes to injuries this season, with the club making their worst start to a season since 1962/63 following an eighth loss of the campaign last week to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup. Ten Hag has been without a number of key players, especially in defence, and in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Fulham, seven of the first-team squad were missing through injury.
Man Utd injuries
Casemiro
Hamstring injury
Lisandro Martinez
Foot injury
Amad Diallo
Knee injury
Tyrell Malacia
Muscle injury
Marcus Rashford
Leg injury
Luke Shaw
Muscle injury
Two of those are arguably key to Ten Hag’s style of play in Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez, and by the looks of things, the pair may not be seen for the remainder of the calendar year.
Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez injuries
Martínez has been out since September with a foot injury, whereas Casemiro suffered a hamstring problem in the Carabao Cup defeat against Newcastle last week. Speaking to the media in the week, Ten Hag admitted that he’s not expecting to be able to call upon either star player before Christmas.
"I have some time schedules, but it's always difficult to expect that because they can have setbacks during rehab periods. Casemiro and Martinez are really strong injuries, I don't expect them back before Christmas."
Reacting to the update on Casemiro and Martinez, Romano took to X and simply said:
“One more big blow for Manchester Utd.”
The news is certainly a big blow for everyone at Old Trafford, with the games coming thick and fast before the New Year. Ten Hag appears to be under some pressure following a poor start to the season as well, but he’ll have to make do without the South American stars over the next six weeks, something which could prove to be a tricky period with a number of games away from Old Trafford coming up.
Manchester United's next five fixtures – all competitions
Competition
Opponent
Venue
Champions League
FC Copenhagen (A)
Parken Stadium
Premier League
Luton Town (H)
Old Trafford
Premier League
Everton (A)
Goodison Park
Champions League
Galatasaray (A)
RAMS Park
Premier League
Newcastle United (A)
St James' Park
Ten Hag has been forced to use the likes of Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire in recent months in Martinez’s absence, with Raphael Varane also struggling with injury earlier in the season, whereas summer signings Sofyan Amrabat and Mason Mount alongside Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen are all options in midfield to cover for Casemiro.
In better injury news, though, full-backs Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw could make their long-awaited returns to the squad following the November international break, which will give Ten Hag more options at left-back, where Diogo Dalot has been providing cover.