Midfielder Casemiro is sidelined with an ankle injury, missing Man Utd’s wins over Sheffield United and FC Copenhagen. The 31-year-old Brazilian midfielder hopes to return to welcome Man City at Old Trafford tomorrow night (10:30 p.m., October 29), but coach Ten Hag is not sure he can attend the Manchester derby.
Similar is the injury case of full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The English player has returned to training after recovering from a thigh injury, but Ten Hag still hinted that he was not sure Wan-Bissaka could start in the match against Man City.
“Wan-Bissaka practiced today, Casemiro is racing against time, he is not at 100% physical strength yet,” coach Ten Hag said in a press conference before the Manchester derby.
The 2023/24 season has just begun, but Man Utd is seriously affected by the injury problem. Even when Casemiro and Wan-Bissaka return to play, the “Red Devils” injury list is still long.
Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw and Amad Traore continue to sit out due to injury, while Jadon Sancho is absent due to disciplinary issues.
Man Utd entered the clash with city rivals on a three-match winning streak. However, the scoring of the “Red Devils” is not good when in all three wins they are only one goal better than the opponent. The scoring problem is still being solved by coach Ten Hag.
Man Utd have only scored 11 goals in nine Premier League matches and Ten Hag knows that his team must be sharper in front of goal.
“Coordination must be effective,” he said. “This week we had a number of players that were overloaded, too many shooting positions from in front of the opponent’s goal but we didn’t score, or didn’t even hit the target.”
“We don’t have time to practice and improve our finishing, we give some instructions and I believe that the team’s quality players will go on the field and score more goals.”