Manchester United have suffered a double injury blow with Christian Eriksen ruled out for a month and Rasmus Hojlund potentially missing the trips to Everton and Galatasaray.
Midfielder Eriksen sustained a knee problem and the £72m forward Hojlund a muscle strain in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Luton and both were removed from the Denmark squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers against Slovenia and Northern Ireland.
And it has added to United’s considerable injury problems this season as Erik ten Hag’s team face a demanding spell of games without a host of players.
United hope Hojlund will return before the end of November but he is a doubt for the away matches at Goodison Park and in Istanbul, where Ten Hag’s team risk being knocked out of the Champions League.
Hojlund is the joint top scorer in the competition, though all his five goals have come in defeats and United’s biggest summer signing is yet to score in the Premier League.
Eriksen is also likely to sit out games against Newcastle, Chelsea, Bournemouth and Bayern Munich, while he may face a race against time to be fit for the clash with Liverpool at Anfield on 17 December.
His absence comes when Ten Hag is without his other most experienced central midfielder, with Casemiro unlikely to return before 2024.
Hojlund’s injury adds to United’s problems— (Getty Images)
Losing Hojlund compounds United’s difficulties in attack, where their forwards have only scored one league goal between them this season. Anthony Martial, who has one goal in 15 appearances in all competitions, is likely to replace him, unless Marcus Rashford, who has not scored in his last 11 appearances, adopts a more central role.
Besides Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Tyrell Malacia are all injured while Jadon Sancho has been omitted by Ten Hag for the last two months.
