Manchester United: Injury crisis for Mourinho before Manchester derby?
Manchester United have a potential injury crisis in defense heading into the Manchester derby this weekend.
Manchester United play hosts to local rivals Manchester City on Saturday and Jose Mourinho has a potential injury crisis on his hands heading into the clash, according to the Mirror. Midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has already been ruled out with a rib injury, but it’s in defense where Mourinho’s biggest concerns lie.
Luke Shaw withdrew from the England national team this week with a calf injury. Whilst Antonio Valencia is in Peru on international duty with Ecuador and will not return until just 24 hours before the game against City.
If Shaw doesn’t make the game, Daley Blind could always shift across to full back. Which would then likely see Chris Smalling called into action for the first time this season at centre-back. In the absence of Valencia, Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian or youngster Timothy Fosu-Mensah could step into the back line.
Ideally, Mourinho will not want to disrupt the centre-back pairing of Blind and new signing Eric Bailly. The duo have started the season well together at the heart of a Manchester United defense which has only conceded one goal in the opening three Premier League games.
However, the biggest concern of the potential absentees is going to be Valencia. Shaw withdrew from the England squad as a precautionary measure. The left back didn’t indicate he had suffered an injury, just that playing for England before the derby was seen as too much of a risk for him right now.
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Shaw should be fine. Which is especially good news because that means Blind and Bailly should remain at centre-back. Three quarters of the so far solid back four intact. Right back is a little more complicated.
Valencia returning just 24 hours before the game after a nine-and-a-half hour flight from Peru is no joke. Can you be at your best given those circumstances? It’s going to be difficult for Valencia to be at his peak. Whether he can be good enough to justify a pick is the question for Mourinho.
Jones, Darmian and Fosu-Mensah have not played a second of United’s Premier League fixtures so far. They might be rustier than what Valenica will be after his travels. When the time comes, the talk of an injury crisis will probably have been overblown.
Shaw should be okay to start, whilst Valencia will likely not be at his sharpest but get by. Meanwhile, David De Gea will be in goal. The midfield pairing of Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini should be ready to go, too, after an injury scare for Fellaini.
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The midfielder suffered a back injury during United’s dramatic win over Hull City last time out. But Fellaini has been training with the Belgian national team this week and not suffered any kind of negative reaction.
There are plenty of niggles to concern Mourinho as he builds up to his first ever Manchester derby. All in all, though, there’s nothing too serious for the Manchester United boss to lose sleep over.