It was shaping up as a quiet weekend of Manchester United news ahead of the Premier League match with Crystal Palace on Monday night. And then we received the update nobody wanted.
More injury news for Manchester United, and to a vital player considering the club’s delicate situation.
Harry Maguire is now out of action for the final four Premier League games of the season.
Manchester United confirmed the defender has picked up a muscle injury, leaving him with a race against time to recover for the FA Cup final.
Gary Neville instant reaction to Harry Maguire injury
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville discussed the Harry Maguire injury news on his podcast for Sky Sports on Sunday night.
He explained his worries, pointing out this was a position which Manchester United could not afford any more injuries.
Neville said: “Just picking my phone up there, I think it was at half time looking at sort of the notifications I was getting. Harry Maguire has got injured today in training.
“That’s the one position they couldn’t afford any injuries to, he is only defender fit or the centre-back fit at this moment in time, so that would be a real problem for United.”
Manchester United options are slim
In recent games, Casemiro has had to shift to centre-back for Manchester United. This has left the team a little stretched in central midfield too.
Casemiro will be needed at the back against Crystal Palace, but United could get Jonny Evans back in the line-up after he returned to training last week.
Still, a defence of Evans and Casemiro is a grim option to have to go into a Premier League away game with.
Teenager Louis Jackson has been in recent squads, and his under-18s teammate Jack Kingdon could end up travelling with the squad too.
Then we have to hope that for the United v Arsenal game next week, we get one or two senior centre-backs available again, and suffer no more injuries.
