Ole Gunnar Solskjaer left Victor Lindelof completely out of the Manchester United squad at Fulham last night.
Eric Bailly was restored to the starting eleven as United got back to winning ways.
Speaking ahead of the game, Solskjaer explained that Lindelof’s absence could be attributed to his ongoing back injury.
Lindelof limped off at Leicester on Boxing Day and missed United next three league games after that.
It might have been hoped that period out of the side had allowed Lindelof to fully recover but that’s not been the case.
As per the MEN, Solskjaer said: “He’s not bad, it’s still his back we’ve got a few issues with, I felt it was better he stayed home, trained a bit and can be ready for the weekend.”
Lindelof’s performance at Anfield was impressive and went down well with some United fans on Twitter.
As per WhoScored, he made a whopping nine clearances at Anfield, three clear of the next most from anyone on the pitch.
He added a block, and interception and two tackles which helped keep Liverpool at bay.
On top of that, his pass completion rate of 87 per cent was the most of any United player on Sunday.
That assuredness on the ball is perhaps the reason Solskjaer keeps putting Lindelof in the side ahead of Bailly for the very biggest games – even if it does dismay some supporters.
But to put in the performance he did at Anfield, while still carrying an injury which kept him out of the next game is very impressive.
Lindelof has had his critics and there are some who still feel that his combination with Maguire lacks the required pace.
But he deserves credit for playing through the pain barrier at Anfield and putting in a dominant performance in the process.
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