Manchester United have continued their winning run in the Premier League and the win over Hull City last weekend means they have secured all the points and are sharing the top spot with their City rivals Manchester City and Jose Mourinho’s previous side, Chelsea. A sense of optimism can be clearly seen in the veins of the players; hence, it is fair to say that United could really go all out to challenge for the honour.

Very recently, the side nearly edged the winner against the newly-promoted Premier League side Hull City, but soon after the game, the side was hit by an injury issue. The Belgian, who featured in every single game for the Reds, suffered a “bad” back injury in Manchester United’s 1-0 win at Hull City. The Belgian played the full 90 minutes and United’s medical staff discovered he had a back injury after the game.

Further, the manager went on say that:

“Marouane is a special guy for us in our defensive work” and later revealed in his press conference that the Belgian midfielder had picked up a problem.

“He has an injury in his back. It’s not good,” the boss confirmed.

Well, United do have plenty of options to recover the spot, but looking at the recent form the Belgian was enjoying, the manager might find it hard to replace the tenacity and willingness of the player. The 28-year-old midfielder has been struggling to find a footing in United’s shirt soon after his big money move from Everton, but until last season, he failed in his every attempt.

The player eventually became the enemy number one of almost the entire fan following and the fans wanted him to be sold, but Mourinho had other ideas. Starting from the beginning, when Pogba was still a Juventus player, the manager needed to choose a midfield duo who could operate the game with great ease (against Bournemouth) and quite surprisingly, the manager opted to go with the out of favour Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera, who played a deeper role and alongside him, he deployed Marouane Fellaini, who was given the licence to launch himself forward at times.

The Belgian ended the game by executing more tackles than any other player on the field and that is when the course of his United career changed. But with him gone and Pogba a sure starter, who would be the perfect partner for the Frenchman?

As mentioned earlier, the side do have plenty of options to fill the void, but the manager has clearly stated that he won’t be doing the squad rotation until the Europa League kicks off. So keeping that in mind, it is fair to say that Ander Herrera would be the most probable option for the manager. Both Morgan Schneiderlin and Michael Carrick haven’t played a single minute for the manager and with a tough game coming up (against City); the manager might use the Spaniard, who had a great game against Bournemouth on the opening day of the League.

The 27-year-old, who impressed the spectators by his performance against the Cherries played a big role in Manchester United’s victory. Despite playing a deeper role, Herrera showed what kind of attacking threat he possesses. He delivered some real threatening balls into the danger area, but then again, Michael Carrick is also capable of doing the same, but the Englishman lacks the speed and that edged Herrera over Michael Carrick.

Schneiderlin, on the other hand, would be a pure gamble for the side as he hasn’t played a minute under the Portuguese and the manager himself cannot take a risk to opt him in the game against City. So it is safe to say that the Spaniard would be the perfect option for the manager can be given the same task at the Theatre of Dreams. With Pogba going forward and joining the attack, Herrera could sit back to defend the backline against the all confident Manchester City side.