Manchester United are nervously awaiting further updates on the injuries sustained by Noussair Mazraoui and Harry Maguire against Aston Villa.
Both players were substituted at half-time of Sunday’s goalless Premier League draw at Villa Park after suffering knocks, with the fit-again Victor Lindelof and much-criticised Matthijs de Ligt sent on instead.
Maguire’s issue looked particularly concerning as he had to be slowly helped off the pitch by medical staff after the half-time whistle.
Asked for an update on the pair after the game, under-fire United boss Erik ten Hag said he knew what the issues were but insisted the club would need to await further assessment before determining the exact severity and a potential timeline for their respective returns.
"We have to take them off at half-time,” Ten Hag said in his post-Villa press conference. “Tomorrow we have to see what is the diagnosis on it."
He then said in an interview with MUTV: "We have to assess this. I can’t tell you now what the issue is. I know what the issue is but [I cannot say now] how good or bad it is. We have to see assess this tomorrow [Monday] and then we will bring you news."
Further defensive injury blows are certainly not good news for the under-pressure Ten Hag, who is already without the likes of summer signing Leny Yoro, while Luke Shaw has not played for United since February and fellow left-back Malacia not since the last day of the 2022/2023 season - leading to right-back Diogo Dalot filling in on the left of the backline.
Maguire - ruled out for England selection at Euro 2024 due to a calf issue - also missed last weekend’s dismal home defeat by Tottenham with a knock, while in midfield Mason Mount was absent again at Villa but Kobbie Mainoo shrugged off an issue to start and play 85 minutes.
Ten Hag had to make changes to a leaky defence for a crunch clash with Villa and did, with the struggling De Ligt and Martinez replaced by Maguire and 36-year-old Jonny Evans - the latter of whom earned man-of-the-match honours for his impressive display against Unai Emery’s high-flying side.
However, the injuries to Maguire and Mazraoui - who has had some good moments since joining United from Bayern Munich along with De Ligt over the summer - disrupted his best-laid plans, with Lindelof playing the second half as a makeshift right-back with Dalot on the left and De Ligt partnering Evans as Martinez remained on the bench.
United return to action after the international break with a home clash against Brentford in the top-flight on October 19, before travelling to Istanbul to face Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in the Europa League.
Ten Hag will hope that the stalemate at Villa - played out in front of co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the rest of United’s football hierarchy - was enough to stave off the threat of the sack for now, with an executive committee meeting coming on Tuesday amid more growing links between United and Thomas Tuchel.
