Manchester United could reportedly have an "internal review" to deal with their ongoing crisis in the 2023-24 campaign.
The Red Devils side, managed by Erik ten Hag, could be without at least 13 key players for their upcoming important meeting with arch-rivals Liverpool FC in the Premier League. It is the fixture where Manchester United were thrashed 7-0 at Anfield last season.
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool currently sit at the top of the Premier League. Even when they have not produced their best football, they have often managed to extend their spirited streak, keeping themselves very much alive in the league title race.
As for Manchester United, they saw their Champions League campaign come to an end on Tuesday, following their 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich at Old Trafford. This came just after their humiliating 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth, again at home, in the Premier League.
Man Utd's injury crisis
During the Bayern Munich loss, Manchester United suffered two massive injury setbacks, losing defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw.
Maguire, who was named the Premier League Player of the Month for November, sustained a groin problem in the first half of the match and was replaced in defence by Jonny Evans. Left-back Shaw picked up a hamstring strain in the closing moments of the opening 45 minutes, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka replacing him at half-time.
Shaw and Maguire have been added to Ten Hag's growing list of sidelined players which already includes Tyrell Malacia, Casemiro, Lisandro Martínez, Christian Eriksen, Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof and Amad Diallo.
These escalating injury concerns have provoked the club to undergo a comprehensive internal review of Manchester United's outdated medical department by the head of sports medicine, reported Daily Mail. This development is believed to have come amid Sir Jim Ratcliffe's impending acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in the club.
Meanwhile, playmakers Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial missed the Bayern game through illness, while Ten Hag is still leaving out Englishman Jadon Sancho. Sancho has not played since August. He had put up a post on social media, questioning his manager's motivations for leaving him out of the defeat at Arsenal, and then refused to apologise.
Bruno Fernandes to miss Liverpool game
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes picked up the fifth yellow card of the season during their loss against Bournemouth last week. As a result, he will miss the Red Devils' upcoming game against Liverpool due to suspension. A mixture of injuries, illness and suspension add up to a total list of 13 Man Utd players who will be missing for the trip to the Merseyside this weekend.
Liverpool have injury issues of their own
Meanwhile, Liverpool are also set to be without several key players for Sunday's game, including Thiago Alcantara (groin), Andrew Robertson (shoulder), Diogo Jota (muscle) and Stefan Bajcetic (leg).
The Reds lost centre-back Joel Matip for the rest of the season after he sustained an ACL injury earlier this month. Last week, Matip underwent a successful surgery and is expected go through rehabilitation at the club's AXA training centre.
Klopp also confirmed that midfielder Alexis Mac Allister will miss their home fixture against Manchester United after suffering a "tricky" knee injury during their 2-0 win over Sheffield United in the Premier League.
The German boss said that he had never experienced an injury like Mac Allister's before, and Liverpool handled the situation with utmost caution. While Klopp said Mac Allister's injury was painful, the manager had not revealed if it was a long-term injury.
"I am obviously not a doctor but they explain it to me pretty much every day why he is not ready yet and it is a bit more tricky than we thought in the first moment.
"The other boy stepped on his knee and the stud went through pretty much the muscle onto the bone. And now we have to wait until the bone is healed and until Macca can deal with the pain because it is pretty painful," added Klopp.
