Manchester United have suffered a significant blow to their Champions League qualification hopes after Lisandro Martinez suffered a foot injury. The Argentine went over awkwardly while in possession during United's 2-2 Europa League draw with Sevilla which saw him carried off the pitch by his fellow countrymen Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna.
The Athletic have now revealed that Martinez is expected to be out for the rest of the season, as he is set to undergo surgery on a metatarsal problem, which could be detrimental to United's end-of-season run-in. Erik ten Hag's side currently sit fourth in the Premier League table on 56 points with nine games left to play.
Alongside their Europa League quarter-final return leg against Sevilla, United are in the FA Cup semi-finals with a Wembley meeting against Brighton set for Sunday, April 23. The 25-year-old joins Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw on the injury list, with concern prominent Raphael Varane will join Martinez in being absent for the rest of the campaign.
READ MORE: Latest Tottenham injury news as five miss Bournemouth with Cristian Stellini Richarlison hope
While being a huge blow for United, the news comes as a significant boost for Tottenham who will be eyeing a Champions League spot. Manchester City and Arsenal have already all -but guaranteed their spot in next season's competition, while United and Spurs will do battle with Newcastle, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Brighton and Brentford for the remaining two places.
Cristian Stellini's side sit fifth, three points off United, with the two Champions League rivals to face off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday, April 27. Spurs also have some injury concerns with Rodrigo Bentancur a long-term absentee while Yves Bissouma, Ryan Sessegnon, Emerson Royal and Ben Davies all continue to work their way back, however some good news came regarding Richarlison.
"We have only Richy [Richarlison] with one week training with us," Stellini said on Friday. "Only Richy is completely back and we recover him. For the other players, they start to work but they work alone. Ben Davies, Emerson and other players are working hard but they are not available."
Spurs face Bournemouth in north London on Saturday afternoon while United travel to the City Ground for a clash against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
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