Man Utd handed triple injury & selection boost over international break

Erik ten Hag will be relieved to see three of his Manchester United players back in action over the international break.

Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof were both forced off in the second half of Sunday’s Premier League loss to Arsenal, due to respective problems. “Victor was ill and he had to come off,” Erik ten Hag explained after the match. “Licha said he has a problem on his foot but I’m not sure if it’s an injury and we have to see, we have to make the diagnosis.”

However, both defenders were seen training on Tuesday ahead of international fixtures for Argentina and Sweden, and look to have recovered from Sunday’s issues. Sweden manager Janne Andersson also confirmed that Lindelof is available for matches against Estonia and Austria. “Everything is fine,” he said on Tuesday. “There are no problems. He is fit.”

Elsewhere, Scott McTominay missed the weekend encounter at the Emirates with Ten Hag citing illness as the reason. Yet the midfielder was involved in Scotland training earlier this week, and therefore should be available to face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Red Devils’ next outing. United host the Seagulls on 16 September, and will hope to build on their six points from the opening four Premier League matches of the campaign.

The expected availability of Lindelof, Martinez and McTominay will be a huge boost for Ten Hag, as the Dutchman has six players out through injury at present. Tom Heaton, Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount and Amad were all missing from Sunday’s squad, while Jadon Sancho was also left out of the group.

Ten Hag said after the game this decision was due to Sancho’s performances in training that week, a claim the ex-Borussia Dortmund winger disputed in a social media post. Reports on Tuesday stated Sancho is due to have a face-to-face meeting with his manager, after the attacker said he had been made a ‘scapegoat’.