Manchester United suffered an unfortunate setback on Sunday afternoon as Lisandro Martinez was forced to be substituted with a knee injury against West Ham United.
The centre-back only recently returned to action after a metatarsal surgery, but he picked up a fresh injury yesterday after his right knee buckled under the weight of Vladimir Coufal.
The Argentine is now sidelined for at least eight weeks, according to the club’s official update.
United will need someone to step up in his absence and in our opinion, it could be time for Victor Lindelof, who has become somewhat of a forgotten man since his groin surgery.
The Swede started the 2022/23 season as a regular on the bench. However, he was a constant presence in the starting XI in the final months amid injuries to Raphael Varane and Martinez.
He played a big part in the club’s top-four finish with strong defensive performances. The €35 million signing may have to replicate something similar during the season run-in this term.
The 29-year-old is the best ball-playing centre-back in the squad after Martinez. He has a passing accuracy of 91% much higher than Varane and Harry Maguire (89% & 83%).
Lindelof is also better with his overall concentration in the box. In our view, Varane and Lindelof should be United’s regulars in the heart of the defence with Martinez on the sidelines.
Varane’s fitness issues obviously mean that he won’t start every game, but he still needs to feature as much as possible as Maguire and Lindelof have looked vulnerable as a pairing.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
