Manchester United are sweating over the fitness of Raphael Varane with the defender set to undergo scans on an ankle injury sustained in the defeat to Manchester City.
The Frenchman was subbed off just 40 minutes into Sunday's Manchester derby with a suspected sprained ankle, with L'Equipe reporting he will now have an assessment today (Monday). Their report adds that United's medical team had difficulty in making an immediate prognosis of Varane's injury due to swelling around the joint.
United were already three down by the time Victor Lindelof replaced Varane at the heart of the defence, but the Swedish international could do little to stop the onslaught as City eventually ran out 6-3 winners. Varane's injury could now put his chances of featuring in Thursday's Europa League group clash against Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia in doubt.
While it's possible Erik ten Hag may have changed things up anyway for United's next fixture, he'll be keen to have Varane back in time for Sunday's trip to Everton. Manchester Evening News report Varane's injury is not thought to be serious and he is not expected to sidelined for long.
The former Real Madrid star had begun to develop a solid partnership alongside Lisandro Martinez, though they were put to the sword by the brilliance of City duo Erling Haaland and Phil Foden at the Etihad.
Asked post-match whether Varane would have stayed on had the scoreline been closer, Ten Hag replied: “I don’t think so, that he would have carried on. But you get him off because when you are 4-0 down, you don’t want to take a risk to get a bigger injury.
“But I think it’s that big, the injury, that he couldn’t carry on.”
Despite United conceding four by half-time for the second match this season, pundit Gary Neville feels the defence were not entirely to blame. "It was the unforced errors, the anxiety on the ball and the lack of composure," he said on Sky Sports’ The Gary Neville Podcast. "I’m not talking about the defenders at the back who are being pressed but the midfielders and the forwards: Rashford, Eriksen, Fernandes, McTominay.
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"They were all giving it away in that first half unnecessarily. It just then brings further negative vibes throughout the team when your best players aren’t handling the ball well. They should’ve been better, a lot better."
Yet Neville did concede the defensive display was far from up to scratch. "There were problems with Dalot in defence, there were problems at centre-back with Varane and Martinez, there were problems with Malacia at left-back, there’s no doubt they didn’t have their best day. But the standout thing for me was just how badly Manchester United ’s players in midfield and up front handled the ball in the first half."
Ten Hag did not shy away from his team's failings, suggesting the defeat was down to a "lack of belief" and criticised his team for folding "like a pack of cards" after City had got their noses in front.
“We get undisciplined at following rules and you get hammered," Ten Hag said. "For me it was a surprise. We were not on the front foot, we were not brave on the ball and there were spaces to play but we were not brave enough.
“I criticised them, I told them. Me as well, because I didn’t get the message through. With this lack of confidence we cannot win games. I don’t think this attitude is Manchester United, we can act much more brave.
"We are in the process and I knew before that big teams like City, when you are not good you get hammered and we were not good. We didn’t follow the rules of the way we play and you get hammered. We have to accept that but this performance was not acceptable.”
