The defensive crisis at Manchester United has continued and now one player is in line for just his second start of the season.
Prior to the Chelsea game, it seemed that the list of defensive injuries at Old Trafford couldn’t possibly get any worse, with both Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof out for a month.
However, during the game on Thursday, it did just that.
Manchester United saw Raphael Varane not make it past half-time, being replaced by Jonny Evans who then also got withdrawn due to an injury.
This leaves Erik ten Hag with limited options to start the Liverpool game with, as it’s just Harry Maguire and Willy Kambwala who are fit.
This means a huge opportunity for the latter, despite the team having an atrocious record when he’s playing this season.
Willy Kambwala to be handed huge opportunity vs Liverpool
While Champions League qualification already looks unlikely due to the huge gap and only eight games to make it up, this is probably the final chance for United to make a move toward Aston Villa and Spurs.
Facing Liverpool, won’t be an easy task, made even harder by the injuries which could hand 19-year-old Kambwala just a second start.
He came on against Chelsea earlier this week in the 4-3 defeat and while looking decent individually, he played a part in the disappointing collapse from 3-2 ahead.
As seen above, Kambwala did some solid defensive work defending the box and can hardly be blamed for either of Chelsea’s goals.
His FotMob stats show this, with three clearances and three defensive actions being his defining contribution.
Even though he was solid on Thursday, there is a worrying record being tallied up regarding his senior performances this season.
Willy Kambwala has a worrying record of conceding for Manchester United
This season has seen Kambwala breakthrough as a squad player for Manchester United.
He’s been a regular in the first-team squad, making cameos which have clearly impressed Ten Hag as he keeps getting them.
But there is a worrying stat from his six Premier League appearances so far.
- Vs. West Ham 84′ minutes – 2 goals conceded
- Vs. Aston Villa 1′ minute
- Vs. Man City 21′ minutes – 2 goals conceded
- Vs. Everton 1′ minutes
- Vs. Chelsea 24′ minutes – 2 goals conceded
From this it’s clear to see that he doesn’t bring much security to the defence, however the same can be said about all his senior teammates.
Most concerning will be the City and Chelsea games where points have been dropped after his introduction, and against Liverpool, he will have to be at his very best to survive.
While it’s hard to blame him for any poor performances – considering the defensive structure is so awful – the duo of Kambwala and Maguire doesn’t exactly give us much confidence.