Louis van Gaal has confirmed Manchester United will be without Michael Carrick, Daley Blind, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo for Saturday’s showdown against Chelsea.
Carrick, Blind and Jones all appeared to pick up knocks during last weekend’s 4-2 win over Manchester City, while the manager revealed today that Marcos Rojo informed him of his injury the following day in training.
The injuries are significant because they leave United without a defensive midfielder or left-sided central defender – Jonny Evans is still suspended.
Luke Shaw is fit and available to play left-back on Saturday. However Louis van Gaal will once again have to shake up his lineup following the injuries to his key personnel.
“Carrick is injured, he cannot play,” Van Gaal told MUTV.
“But not only Michael Carrick – Daley Blind, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo cannot play. It cannot be worse because it’s two players in the left central defensive positions, and Jonny Evans is still suspended. Blind and Carrick play in the holding position in midfield, so I have to change my lineup a lot against Chelsea.”
Van Gaal did not go into the extent of the injuries. He only said Blind and Jones were “close” to being fit for Saturday, but the match came too soon.
The manager hinted he may once again have to utilize Wayne Rooney in the midfield to cover for the absence of Michael Carrick.
This also means possible starts up front for Radamel Falcao or James Wilson – with Van Gaal reluctant to start Robin van Persie since the Dutch striker has only just begun training with the first team.
Programming note: Chelsea vs. Manchester United will be shown LIVE on Saturday at 12:30pm EST on NBC and NBC Sports Live Extra.
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