Manchester United have only two full-backs for the next two months! The main left and right defenders have been exposed from injury exposure in November at the earliest
According to ESPN, Manchester United's main left-wing full-backs Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are both very injured and will continue to be out for a long time, and will not return to the stadium until November at the earliest. This week, Ten Hag faced a serious personnel crisis, with a total of 12 players unable to play for various reasons, and he had to put three goalkeepers on the bench.
Among them, Luke Shaw and Wan-Bissaka were both unable to participate due to injury. ESPN said Luke Shaw needs to continue treatment until at least the international break in November. That international break began after United's Premier League clash against Luton on 11 November and ended with a visit to Everton on 25 November.
Meanwhile, Wan-Bissaka, who was injured after five minutes off the bench for United's match against Brighton, was also more injured than expected. United's statement said he would be off the pitch for "a few weeks", but ESPN said the £50 million right-back could not return until more than two months later.
Luke Shaw's situation with Wan-Bissaka has left Ten Hag's Manchester United facing the embarrassment of having only two full-backs in two months. Fans can only hope that Diogu Darlow and Reguilon will not have any accidents, otherwise the team will be short of full-backs. Manchester United are also hoping that midfielder Mason Mount and centre-back Varane will return to Burnley on Saturday to help end a three-game losing streak and beat the Premier League promotion side.
United borrowed their training ground on Thursday after losing to Bayern before flying back to Manchester for Saturday's league game. New signing Amrabat and youngster Kobe Meno also resumed individual training this week and can train on grass, but I am afraid that they will still not be able to catch this round of the league. Winger Amad Diallo and left-back Malaysian are also long-term injured and ironclad sidelines, while Jadon Sancho and Anthony are out for non-injury matters.
Burnley, second-to-last place, are United's favourite opponents to return to victory, having just one point this season, scoring four goals and conceding 12. If you can't get all three points against such an opponent, then Ten Hag's life will be even more difficult, and the pressure of leaving class will really appear.
And, like Manchester United, Kompany has faced a plethora of injured players in Burnley, with striker Lyle Foster suspending three games for a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest due to violent violence, two other strikers Michael Aubafimi and Dako Chulinov who have not played this season due to injury, centre-back Ekdahl will not be available until at least next month, and defender Vitinho has missed the last few weeks, both suffering knee problems.
Manchester United's away game against Burnley is scheduled for 3am on Sunday, or 20pm local time on Saturday, because of new rules that prevent teams playing in the Champions League on Wednesday from playing at lunchtime. Manchester United, who will host Galatasaray in the Champions League next Tuesday, are not fit to play on Sunday, hence this peculiar game time.