Defenders are falling like ninepins ahead of Ruben Amorim’s first game as Manchester United’s new head coach, and it will be quite the challenge to select three defenders for the Ipswich Town game.
Lisandro Martinez picked up a back injury during international duty and has returned early to conduct tests to understand the severity of the issue.
Harry Maguire remains sidelined while Leny Yoro is inching closer to a comeback but whether the former Sporting Lisbon boss will throw him into the deep end from the start against the Tractor Boys remains to be seen.
Victor Lindelof, who recently returned from injury, was hopeful of earning more minutes under his former Benfica teammate but the Swede’s bad luck with injuries continued while playing for his country.
Lindelof injury
Since his return, the Sweden captain has had to play at full-back and even in defensive midfield other than at centre-back. And given Amorim’s penchant for playing three at the back, he must have been hopeful of starting on Sunday.
He got subbed off in the first half after what seemed to be a hamstring issue and as per his Sweden teammate Emil Holm, the centre-back was distraught inside the dressing room.
“It’s very sad. He just come back from injury and then to get another injury, you suffer with that. It was tough to see,” he said, as quoted by Göteborgs-Posten.
“He was very down in the dressing room too. He’s an important man in the team, he’s captain anyway. No, it was a shame.”
Poor luck with injuries
Lindelof had missed over 40 days of action due to a toe injury he had picked up during pre-season while last season, the 30-year-old missed over 20 games.
He was clearly looking forward to playing regularly and trying to earn either a contract extension or a lucrative move elsewhere. But the injury might mean another extended period on the sidelines.
His indifferent displays on the pitch and his poor injury record meant the Red Devils tried to offload him in the summer but the player’s wage demands scuppered any chance of an exit.
Juventus and AC Milan are two of the teams eyeing Lindelof with the Swede having the option of agreeing a pre-contract agreement as early as January.
Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
