Manchester United may well be without their key central defensive partnership of Lisandro Martínez and Raphaël Varane against Nottingham Forest when the Premier League resumes due to the player's extended involvement at the World Cup.
Varane, 29, played the full 90 minutes of France's quarter-final win against England on Saturday, which secured the defending champions' place in the semi-finals, where they will face Morocco on Wednesday. Martínez and Argentina sealed their progression to play Croatia in the other semi-final on Friday after overcoming the Netherlands after 120 minutes of action and a subsequent penalty shootout.
By booking their places in the last four, both nations also extended their involvement in the tournament until its final weekend, whatever the result. That is because 24 hours before next Sunday's (18 December) final the much-maligned third-place playoff will be played between the two losing semi-finalists to determine who receives the set of World Cup bronze medals.
