Man United vs Chelsea: United could be without seven key players for Chelsea EPL clash
Manchester United could be missing seven players when they travel to Stamford Bridge on Thursday.
Chelsea welcome the Red Devils to SW6 in the Premier League after both sides were held to draws at the weekend. The Blues took the lead twice against Burnley, who they also had a man advantage over for the entirety of the second half, but were unable to come away with all three points in west London.
United, meanwhile, were also playing in the west of the capital and drew 1-1 with Brentford. Mason Mount thought he had won it for Erik ten Hag’s side late on but Kristoffer Ajer’s 99th-minute equaliser ensured the points were shared at the Gtech Community Stadium.
In that match, both Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof were taken off, seemingly as precautions but it has made the centre-back duo a doubt for the trip to Chelsea. Fortunately for United, Lisandro Martinez came on to make his return after almost two months out through injury.
Jonny Evans, another central defender, may also miss the match with the Blues. Evans missed the draw at Brentford on Saturday night because of injury and still needs to be assessed ahead of Thursday evening’s match.
Likewise, Anthony Martial, Altay Bayindir, Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw will all miss the game with Chelsea. Ten Hag could be without seven players for the match but that is still less than his counterpart Mauricio Pochettino, who has had to contend with an injury crisis all season-long in his debut campaign with the Blues.
Trevoh Chalobah is set to return to contention, after sitting out of the draw with Burnley with a slight knock. However, the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka, Robert Sanchez and Levi Colwill are all expected to remain on the sidelines.
Romeo Lavia will miss the remainder of the season after recently suffering a setback in his recovery from a hamstring problem. Wesley Fofana, too, is expected to sit out between now and the end of the campaign with the Frenchman not playing a single minute of football this season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament last summer.
Christopher Nkunku has played just over 350 minutes of football in his debut season in England and he remains out of action for the time being. Lesley Ugochukwu, too, has had an injury-riddled first campaign in the Premier League and we do not know when the French midfielder will return.
Reece James is still working on his recovery. The Chelsea captain has been missing since December and in that month he had surgery on his hamstring that has been causing him problems throughout his career.
We await to see how Malo Gusto is. The 20-year-old, who has been one of Chelsea’s star players this season, limped off late in the draw with Burnley. The club need to assess him this week to find out the full extent of the problem ahead of the match with Man United on Thursday.
