Manchester United will host Chelsea at Old Trafford tonight and Ralf Rangnick has given an update on team news ahead of the clash, with some disappointing injury news.
What's the latest?
The Red Devils boss took to his pre-match press conference (via Manchester Evening News) to confirm that Harry Maguire will not be available for selection tomorrow following a knee injury.
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Rangnick told the press:
"Harry Maguire is not available [on Thursday], he has some issues with his knee."
Following the admission from the manager, the Daily Mail now claim that the Manchester United captain will not feature again this season, writing that they understand Maguire’s injury might sideline him for weeks, missing the four remaining games.
Ralf will be gutted
Although the team have an extremely slim chance of getting a top-four finish this season following their defeat to Arsenal at the weekend that has left them six points adrift, it isn't impossible for Man United to secure the fourth spot, so Rangnick will surely be gutted to lose his captain.
Despite the controversy surrounding Maguire and his mistakes on the pitch this season, the centre-back has been a consistent player in the team winning the majority of his duels combined (66%), successful in a large majority of his dribbles (80%) and has made 3.5 clearances, 1.1 tackles and 1.1 interceptions on average per game.
The defender does carry some of the blame for the team's poor performances this season though, with two errors leading to shots and one error leading to a goal, which is something he will need to improve if he wants to continue at the club next season.
However, in the defensive system deployed he is more often than not the last man ahead of De Gea in a team that loses possession 136.9 times per game on average and Maguire is joint top in the Premier League for last man tackles this season, proving that the blame cannot just be laid on his performances.
It will certainly be interesting to see how Man United do get on without their captain in the team, especially after a disappointing performance against Arsenal with the side conceding within the first five minutes of the game, of which Maguire was absent for too and Rangnick will surely be hoping the team can see out the season positively without key players.
AND in other news: Fabrizio Romano drops huge £50m transfer update that will excite Man United supporters