Manchester United take on Leeds United for the second time in five days tomorrow afternoon, and Erik ten Hag will be aiming for all three points this time, with the Old Trafford side needing two goals in the final 30 minutes to rescue a point in an entertaining 2-2 draw on Wednesday night.
A win could vault them into second place – temporarily at least – with Manchester City playing after United on Sunday, although the Red Devils have been dealt a triple injury blow ahead of the Elland Road clash.
What is the latest injury news at Manchester United?
Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday’s match, Ten Hag outlined that he would likely be missing three players.
In reference to Anthony Martial, Scott McTominay and Antony, the 53-year-old said: “I don’t expect [them] to be fit. We have some days obviously, but I don’t expect it. If I can oversee it from now, I don’t see any new problems coming up.”
This comes as a galling blow for Ten Hag, especially with the manic run of fixtures that United have over the next month, with seven games in the space of 22 days and the need to reschedule their home clash against Brentford due to their Carabao Cup final involvement.
McTominay has been missing for the previous three matches and has started just seven times in the Premier League all season, averaging a Sofascore rating of 6.64/10. The Scot has struggled to feature as much this season, but with Christian Eriksen already ruled out until late April at the earliest, his manager will surely be keen on bringing McTominay back to full fitness as quickly as possible.
Anthony Martial missing out against Leeds means that Ten Hag will likely start Wout Weghorst, and with the loanee scoring just once in seven matches so far for United, the Frenchman’s presence in attack may well be missed.
Indeed, this season has seen the 27-year-old somewhat “rejuvenated” according to Statman Dave, with six goals in 14 appearances (despite injury issues plaguing his campaign) a decent return, and Ten Hag will be hoping that Weghorst can finally click into gear against Leeds tomorrow.
Antony’s start to life at Old Trafford has been something of a mixed bag. He has scored three goals in 12 league appearances, although his penchant for tricks should be sacrificed for a better end product. The 22-year-old has completed just 42% of his attempted dribbles and a woeful 0.1 accurate crosses per match (6% of all attempted).
The Brazilian has shown glimpses of his talent with the Red Devils, and his unpredictable nature could be a big miss against Leeds, but at least his absence could open the door for Jadon Sancho to switch wings or even allow someone like Facundo Pellistri to take his chance.
