Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire among Manchester United injury doubts for Liverpool pre-season friendly clash
According to Manchester Evening News, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire are among the potential injury doubts for Manchester United ahead of their pre-season friendly clash against Liverpool. The game is set to take place later today in Bangkok, which will kickstart Erik ten Hag’s tenure.
Ten Hag would have to deal with some defensive issues as he may not have all the starters available for this clash. Varane had missed the training at the Rajamangala Stadium on Monday while Maguire worked individually under a fitness coach, with the focus being on running drills.
Varane was present for the training on Monday morning, but he was not seen after that, causing concerns among the fans. Maguire may not be fully fit, which could explain why he trained alone and separated from the rest of the first-team squad.
Problems for ten Hag?
As Maguire did not take part in team training sessions, one could say that it is unlikely for him to make it in time for today’s fixture. As for Varane, Man United had later confirmed on their official website that he is undertaking gym work as part of their bespoke programmes provided by the coaching team.
That should be a sigh of relief, although the doubts over the French defender’s availability have not been addressed even after this update. As such, we need to keep an eye out and see whether there will be any further updates as the match draws closer.
Axel Tuanzebe is also doing gym work separately, which means that Eric Bailly and Phil Jones are the only clear-cut options available for ten Hag to choose from right now. Perhaps this is beneficial in a way as Bailly and Jones are on the market and could generate some interest based on their displays.
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Having just two centre-backs at hand is certainly not enough, but the supporters would hope that Bailly and Jones would stay injury-free in case a transfer is on the cards. The defence is not the only issue that ten Hag needs to deal with, as there is a lack of options in midfield as well.
James Garner and Scott McTominay are doing individual gym training, which leaves us pretty short-handed after the likes of Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Paul Pogba, and Nemanja Matic left the club. Options in the holding midfield role are pretty bare right now, so ten Hag has his work cut out in that regard as well.
