Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag revealed on Friday that Victor Lindelof will be out until the new year following surgery on an ongoing issue.
The Swedish centre back was substituted at half-time in United’s last victory, a 2-1 win against Chelsea on 6 December, with an injury problem yet to be disclosed.
Lindelof was expected back within a matter of weeks, but Ten Hag confirmed another blow to United’s injury-hit defence ahead of the Premier League trip to West Ham on Saturday lunchtime.
“Lindelof is not available,” said Ten Hag. “He will be out for a couple of weeks. He had a problem, he has to do the surgery.”
Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez are notable absentees from central defence, meaning Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane are likely to start again as the centre back pairing as they did at Anfield last Sunday.
Ten Hag added that there are other doubts for tomorrow’s game at the London Stadium due to “illness”, while he stated defensive midfielder Casemiro should be back in the fold in January.
United have not scored in their last three matches – and have won once in their last six – but Ten Hag revealed the key to breaking their scoring duck.
Victor Lindelof will be out of action until 2024 after undergoing surgery— (PA Wire)
He said: “I think we can definitely improve. It is not about one player; it is about a group of us. You know my philosophy: we have to attack with 11.
“It is not about one player, it is about everyone. We need to move the ball better, the decision-making on the ball has to be better. Sometimes we also have to be more clinical. The best chance at Liverpool was ours.
“We have played very strong teams in Liverpool and Bayern Munich, and before we had a poor game [vs Bournemouth]. Always issues. We have to improve, we played very good against Bayern Munich and Liverpool but we should have created more chances and been more clinical in such moments.”
West Ham can leapfrog Man Utd with a victory, as they look to match their 1-0 victory in the same fixture last season.
