Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has spoken out after his side suffered three injury scares in their defeat at the hands of Liverpool in pre-season in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Fabio Carvalho, Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas were all on the scoresheet for Arne Slot’s side as they cruised to a 3-0 victory in Columbia, South Carolina in front of a crowd of 77,559 fans.
United performed with credit but were ultimately outclassed in the goa-scoring department and Ten Hag will have learned plenty from the performance. However, the Dutchman has also been tasked with further injury concerns as a result of the match.
Defensive injuries were the bane of United’s 2023/24 campaign, and they are threatening to derail their preparations for the new season too.
Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans both started the contest against Liverpool but were withdrawn at half-time, along with Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Academy graduate Will Fish was among those who entered the fray as a replacement, but he was stretchered off of the pitch in the second half after a collision with Liverpool’s Harvey Blair.
Speaking to MUTV about the concerns over Lindelof, Evans and Fish, Ten Hag said: “Always, we have to see what has gone on. The assessment, of course, with Will Fish is it’s an impact injury.
“We also had to sub Jonny Evans at half-time because he was ill. Victor Lindelof [was] a precaution. So, yeah, there are some injuries, but we have to see how bad it will be.”
Harry Maguire also missed out on the match as a precaution as United seek to avoid problems piling up defensively.
United already have a host of talented players sidelined with injuries who are in a race against time to be fit for the opening weekend of next season in two weeks’ time.
Leny Yoro and Rasmus Hojlund both sustained injuries against Arsenal which will rule them out of the opening few weeks of the upcoming campaign.
Antony and Marcus Rashford also had issues which forced them off against Real Betis, though the latter appears to have recovered from the issue as he featured – and looked sharp – against Liverpool on Sunday.
On Maguire, former Ajax manager Ten Hag said: “Pre-season is always tough. But, yeah, Harry Maguire, as a precaution, we leave him out.”
