Gary Neville thinks Manchester United have a problem at centre-back if they go into their next Premier League games without Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane.
Lisandro Martínez is yet to return to the Manchester United squad, with the centre-back now in Argentina celebrating their 2022 FIFA World Cup victory. The 24-year-old was part of the Argentina squad that clinched the World Cup title FIFA 2022.
Raphael Varane has also not returned to Manchester United training following their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign. He was part of the France soccer team that reached the final of the latest edition of FIFA’s flagship event.
Meanwhile, Harry Maguire, another centre-back, also missed Manchester United’s EFL Cup round of 16 clash with Burnley earlier this week. The Red Devils were without Lisandro Martínez, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire against Burnley. It was Casemiro who started at centre-back alongside Victor Lindelof in Man Utd’s win over Burnley.
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Gary Neville makes a claim about Manchester United’s big center back problem
Speaking to Sky Sports, Gary Neville said Manchester United have a defensive problem if they head into their next Premier League games without Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane.
Gary Neville believes that the absence of the aforementioned players will weaken Manchester United’s defense. “It looks like they have a big mid-back problem,” Gary Neville told Sky Sports.
“Martinez looks like he’s going to be around for at least a couple of weeks, Varane was obviously injured and you don’t know when he’s coming back, and if Harry Maguire is sick, they’re potentially going to go with a very weak defense to those Premier League games.
“I think if they had been playing a Premier League team tonight they would have been punished so they need to get some players back quickly.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United currently sit fifth in the Premier League points table. They have 26 points in 14 games in the English top flight so far this 22/23 season. The Red Devils are 11 points behind Arsenal, who have 37 points from 14 games.
Manchester United will resume their 22/23 Premier League campaign by taking on Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford. That match kicks off at 1:30am Indian Standard Time on December 28.
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