Man Utd and Spurs have a number of injury issues to deal with ahead of their highly-anticipate Premier League clash
ManchesterWorld Digest: The best headlines and highlights from us and around our city, sent every Friday
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to ManchesterWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
Two under-achieving heavyweights will lock horns this weekend as Manchester United make the trip down to London to take on an out-of-form Tottenham Hotspur side.
Both teams did enough to secure a place in the Europa League last term, but face the prospect of no football on the continent next season if they cannot improve their domestic performances. Managerial scrutiny and injuries have dominated the headlines of both clubs in recent weeks, with Lisandro Martinez’s recent injury against Crystal Palace and Luke Shaw’s latest setback creating new selection headaches for Ruben Amorim.
While a defiant Ange Postecogolou has publicly defended his team against scrutiny amid an avalanche of injury concerns, he told reporters: "You cannot judge this group of players on what has happened. They have given everything. Two 18-year-olds, a 17-year-old, a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old goalkeeper. It cannot be that people think that is an excuse."
United pulled the trigger on Erik ten Hag earlier in the season and time is running out for Postecoglou to get fans back on side. “I think this is the real time now we start to judge Ange Postecoglou. He's had all the excuses, the mitigating factors around the injuries. We've now got players back, we've now got full weeks of training, we can rest players, we can rotate,” said National World’s James Trembath.
He added: “Manchester United ahead, a big test. But I want to see the real Spurs turn up now and if not, I think ultimately it will cost Postecoglou his job.” Ahead of a big game for both clubs we take a look at the injury situation from Spurs and United.
Spurs injury news
Ange Postecoglou has had to navigate his way through an unprecedented injury crisis, but a number of high-profile names such as midfielder James Maddison and defender Micky van de Ven are both thought to be closing in on a return amid late fitness tests. Left-back Destiny Udogie and first-choice shot-stopper Guglielmo Vicario could also return to the fray this weekend along with attacking trio Timo Werner, Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert.
In a much-needed positive update from a Lillywhite’s perspective, Postecogolou told reporters: They are all kind of around the same time - around 10 days. We are talking about Vicario, (Brennan) Johnson, Destiny (Udogie), Wilson (Odobert), and Timo (Werner).
However, as Postecoglou makes crucial decisions over how much game time to give a number of returning stars, he also faces up to the reality of further setbacks in the form striker Richarlison, who picked up a fresh knock at the start of February. Elsewhere, striker Dominic Solanke and defender Christian Romero are aiming to return at the end of the month - but the same cannot be said about centre-back Radu Dragusin after he sustained a dreaded ACL injury.
Man Utd injury news
Star defender Lisandro Martinez has sustained an ACL injury which is almost certain to keep him out the remainder of the season. Ruben Amorim explained: “Licha is a difficult situation. He's going to be out for a while. We don't know the extent of the injury, but it's an injury that is going to take time.”
Joining him on the sidelines is Luke Shaw, whose recent setback could now leave him out until April, according to Premier Injuries. Amorim added: “Luke, just a little bit, one small issue in a different area from the last injury, so we'll try to be careful.”
Fellow Euro 2020 finalist Mason Mount, a former Chelsea hero, has also had a nightmare with injuries at Old Trafford. A timeline on his return has not yet been determined after his thigh injury in December. Meanwhile, Altay Bayindir, who resisted the chance to play first team football back in Turkey, is set to miss out with a slight knock along with experienced defender Jonny Evans, who has a lower back problem.