Erik ten Hag explains why Victor Lindelof and Antony missed Man Utd vs West Ham

Injury and illness prevented the duo playing for Manchester United on Sunday.
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Erik ten Hag confirmed Antony missed Manchester United’s Premier League encounter with West Ham due to injury, while Victor Lindelof wasn’t involved through illness.

The pair were notable absentees when the teams were announced for Sunday’s game, with Harry Maguire and Anthony Elanga coming in to replace the pair. Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford also returned to the starting line-up.

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But ahead of the game, Ten Hag was asked live on Sky Sports why Antony wasn’t part of his squad. “He is injured and I hope it is not too bad. I think it is not bad and in a couple of days he will be back,” the United boss responded.

Ten Hag also confirmed Lindelof was ill and then was quizzed on the decision to hand Maguire a first start since August. “Harry played 45 minutes [on Thursday] so he had a good training week. Now, I think he’s ready to play and he wanted already to start on Thursday but now he’s ready.”

United started with David de Gea in nets on Sunday, and a back four of Diogo Dalot, Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw. In midfield, Casemiro and Christian Erisken were selected with Bruno Fernandes. Meanwhile, Rashford and Elanga played in the wide areas with Cristiano Ronaldo up front.

Ten Hag will hope Lindelof and Antony are back for Thursday’s trip to Spain. The Red Devils face Real Sociedad in their final group game in the Europa League, and have to win by at least two goals in order to secure top spot.