Erik ten Hag has provided some fitness updates in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
The season so far for Manchester United has largely been riddled with injuries, which seem to be never-ending.
When one returns another is back on the table, as we already saw on Wednesday with Casemiro now out for several months.
To offset that, Kobbie Mainoo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have both returned recently from injury.
But now, in his pre-Fulham press conference, Erik ten Hag has confirmed the absence of another.
Erik ten Hag gives update on Varane and Lindelof
Speaking in his press conference, which has been quoted by MEN, Ten Hag confirmed one player will return while another is now out.
“Varane is ready to play, he will travel with the squad. Victor Lindelof has some illness and we’ll have to see if he’s ready for tomorrow.”
The return of the Frenchman will be a massive boost for the club and Ten Hag, given his presence has been sorely missed amid back-to-back 3-0 thrashings.
While Lindelof’s injury just limits the options we have in defence and ensures that Harry Maguire continues to start.
Who starts for United in defence?
Assuming Varane is ready to go from the start, he needs to line up from the go.
His leadership and quality on the ball have been so clearly missed as without him we have been real shaky in defence.
We probably will see Varane and Maguire as our back two, which is statistically our best. In what is an absolutely must-win game for Ten Hag, he will be delighted to see his key man return.
We then expect that Varane will be joined by the returning Wan-Bissaka with Sergio Reguilon at left-back.
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