BREAKING: Van de Beek, Shaw, Martial – Man Utd injury round-up and expected return dates
The Red Devils return to Premier League action on Sunday when they travel to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, looking for their fifth straight league win of the season
Manchester United have just three days to prepare before they return to action following their UEFA Europa League duties in midweek, with a clash against Crystal Palace in the Premier League next up for the Red Devils.
Erik ten Hag rested a number of first team players on Thursday but was also missing a few through injury, and he will be hoping that some of those who were absent in midweek will be available for selection once again on Sunday.
Here is all you need to know about the current state of play at Old Trafford and the expected return dates for those on the sidelines.
Donny van de Beek
Donny van de Beek hasn’t found life any easier at United this season despite the appointment of his former manager Ten Hag in the summer, with the Dutch midfielder totalling just 19 minutes from three substitute appearances so far in the 2022/23 campaign.
And the last of those came in the 2-1 victory over Liverpool on August 22, before he was an unused substitute in the following two games. However, he was then left out of last weekend’s 3-1 victory over Arsenal after picking up a knock and has been struggling ever since.
It was initially thought that he would be included in the side to face Real Sociedad in midweek, but was absent from first team training on Wednesday as he continued to struggle with the issue, although he could return to the matchday squad against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
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Luke Shaw
Left back Luke Shaw has lost his starting spot to summer signing Tyrell Malacia in recent weeks, having started United’s first two games of the season, and hasn’t played a single minute of football for the Red Devils since.
The defender had to settle for a place on the bench for the wins against Liverpool and Southampton last month, but was absent for the game against Leicester City last week after picking up a minor injury, yet returned to the squad for the 3-1 victory against Arsenal.
Shaw was expected to start against Real Sociedad in midweek but after being absent from first team training on Wednesday, appears to still be struggling with injury. As a result, he remains a doubt for Sunday’s trip to face Crystal Palace.
Anthony Martial
Anthony Martial continues to recover from the injury he sustained following the 2-1 victory over Liverpool last month, which remains his only appearances of the new campaign after being ruled out of action ever since.
Martial came off the bench to feature for 44 minutes of that contest against the Reds and grabbed the assist for Marcus Rashford’s winner, before it was revealed that he was suffering from an Achilles problem. In his most recent update, Ten Hag confirmed that Martial is yet to return to first team training and is therefore a doubt for this weekend.
Speaking on Wednesday, Ten Hag said: “Yes, he is still out. He is progressing but he is not ready to get back into team training or in a game.”
Facundo Pellistri
Youngster Facundo Pellistri has been forced out of United’s first seven games of the season after picking up an ankle sprain during the 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in their penultimate pre-season friendly of the summer at the end of July.
Pellistri was forced off through injury just 15 minutes after coming on as a second half substitute and is expected to remain on the sidelines until early October, although El Pais have reported that the 20-year-old is in “the final stretch of his recovery process”..TAP.TO.CONTINUE.READING
Speaking on August 12, Ten Hag said: “The prognosis is that he will not return before September.”
