Luke Shaw starts in central defence for Manchester United amid a defensive crisis for tonight’s trip to Chelsea in the Premier League after Leny Yoro became the latest player to be ruled out.
It emerged late on Friday afternoon that the French centre-back had not made the trip to west London for an important late-season clash between top-six rivals having picked up a knock in training on the eve of the game.
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United are still without Harry Maguire, who earlier this week received an additional one-match suspension from the Football Association (FA).
He was sent off during the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth last month after giving away a second-half penalty, subsequently missing Monday night’s shock 2-1 home defeat by rivals Leeds.
Maguire will remain unavailable against Chelsea, having been hit with an extra one-game ban for what he said to the fourth official following his dismissal at the Vitality Stadium, which led to an FA charge of improper conduct.
To compound United’s defensive nightmare, Lisandro Martinez was also red-carded on his return from a calf injury against Leeds for pulling the hair of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin - a decision that an angry Michael Carrick described as “one of the worst I've seen”.
Martinez will serve a three-match ban and miss games against Chelsea, Brentford and Liverpool, with United having failed with their appeal against his dismissal.
Matthijs de Ligt is still sidelined with a lingering back injury that has kept him out since November, leaving 19-year-old Ayden Heaven as United’s only fit senior centre-back against Chelsea and Carrick needing to get creative with his team selection.
Noussair Mazraoui has previously played as a centre-back in a three-man defence, but Carrick switched Ruben Amorim’s system to a four-man backline after taking the interim coaching reins in January.
Elsewhere, Kobbie Mainoo is back in the side after missing the Leeds defeat with an issue that Carrick insisted was not serious.
CONFIRMED TEAM NEWS
Manchester United XI: Lammens; Mazraoui, Heaven, Shaw, Dalot; Casemiro, Mainoo; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Malacia, T. Fletcher, Thwaites, Mount, Ugarte, Amad, Lacey, Zirkzee.
