Manchester United may be forced to field a depleted defence against Tottenham in the Europa League final next week, with Ruben Amorim currently missing four defenders
Ruben Amorim is facing an injury nightmare for Manchester United’s biggest game of the season, with four defenders missing from training. United take on Tottenham in the Europa League final in Bilbao next Wednesday and could be short on players at the back.
The club’s season rests on the result in northern Spain, with victory providing salvation in the form of a place in next season’s Champions League. United are 16th in the Premier League, a place above Spurs, following the 2-0 defeat by West Ham on Sunday and are fully focused on the Europa League final.
The West Ham game extended their winless run in the league to seven games and brought another bitter pill to swallow in the form of another injury for Leny Yoro. The French defender received treatment on the pitch at Old Trafford in the second half and had to be replaced by Harry Maguire.
“We have to assess Leny in a better way tomorrow,” Amorim said after the match. “He felt something, but it could be a small thing.”
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He was due to undergo a scan to determine the extent of the issue and was conspicuous by his absence at an opening training session at Carrington on Wednesday morning. Amorim could be sweating on other injuries, too, with Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt and Ayden Heaven also not presence in the session.
Dalot suffered a calf injury in the 1-0 defeat by Wolves last month and appears very unlikely to make the Spurs game. “He has something in his muscle, his calf, he had a sequence of games, he played all the time, we try to manage but the players play a lot of minutes and not so ready to cope with that. Dalot felt something,” Amorim said. “We don’t know how long he’s going to be out. But he’s out for these next games.”
De Ligt picked up a knee injury in the 4-3 loss to Brentford, but Amorim had been optimistic about a swift return. “It is not a big issue,” he said. “That is a good thing. He cannot play tomorrow [vs Athletic Bilbao] and he’ll not play on Sunday [vs West Ham] but then we’ll check day by day.”
Heaven has not been involved in any squads since being on the bench against Newcastle on April 13 due to a “small setback”.
Injuries have been a major problem for Amorim during his debut campaign as United boss, with defence a particular issue. Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw and Noussair Mazraoui all featured against West Ham, but United are short on numbers in defence.
Amorim chose to play a strong side against the Hammers on Sunday, with Bruno Fernandes partnering Manuel Ugarte in midfield. The Portuguese boss admitted that he still had one eye on the Europa League final and had to manage his squad ahead of Friday’s trip to play Chelsea in the Premier League.
“We want to win and to be competitive, also in the Premier League,” Amorim said. “Bruno doesn’t have the problem of any injury [touches wood] but Harry [Maguire] has. So we have to manage that but they have to play and it is better to play than to stay out.”
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