Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim faces a serious conundrum as he could be without three key midfielders.
Amorim’s side travel to north London on Sunday for a crunch clash with fellow underachievers Tottenham.
However, the Portuguese boss may have to re-jig his engine room as The Athletic reports Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer are major doubts.
The report claims Mainoo will be sidelined for weeks, while Ugarte and Collyer face a race against the clock to be fit in time for the match.
News of the trio’s injuries comes after Amorim conceded in his press conference on Friday he had ‘some problems’ with his squad in terms of availability.
“(It) was a good week until two days ago, we had some problems,” Amorim said.
“We don’t have players back, maybe we have one or two issues, we are waiting.
“We have one player who is sick, we will see on the weekend.”
Amorim added ‘some young players’ were drafted into United’s training to help with the numbers due to the midweek absentees.
Mainoo’s absence means he will miss just his second Premier League match since Amorim took charge in November.
The England international had operated as a central midfielder in Amorim’s system but was deployed further up the field during the FA Cup win over Leicester City and Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace.
Should Ugarte miss out, it would also mark the second time he has missed a league clash under Amorim.
He had partnered Mainoo in central midfield but with the United academy product pushed higher up, Ugarte was paired with skipper Bruno Fernandes.
As for Collyer, he has come off the bench in three of United’s last four league matches.
More to follow…
