Michael Carrick will be in charge of Manchester United against Arsenal on Thursday night.
The former midfielder has overseen the Red Devils' last two games - a win over Villarreal and draw against Chelsea - with the latter supposed to have been his final act as caretaker manager.
This is because on Monday afternoon United confirmed the appointment of Ralf Rangnick as interim manager until the end of the season.
However, Man United fans will have to wait a few more days to see German in charge after it was revealed the Arsenal game comes too soon for his debut, with the club continuing to work through visa and COVID process
As a result, it will be Carrick in the Old Trafford dugout for the visit of Arsenal this week and he is set to be handed a major blow ahead of the big game.
Via the club's official website, the early team news for the Gunners clash has been released and it states that Raphael Varane is likely to be absent once again through injury.
The France international picked up a thigh injury against Atalanta at the start of November and prior to the Chelsea game, his potential return date, as per Premier League injuries, was December 2 - the same day Mikel Arteta's side visit the 'Theatre of Dreams'.
However, that date has since been pushed back to December 5 and that coupled with United's own update suggests Carrick will have to make do without Varane against Arsenal.
Paul Pogba is also set to miss out through injury, whilst Luke Shaw is being carefully assessed after sustaining a couple of head injuries in recent fixtures and missing the draw with Chelsea.
"Luke obviously had the bang on the head [at Watford] and we were assessing him and he just wasn't quite right," Carrick explained at the weekend. "He didn't quite get fit enough in time for the game. So it's unfortunate for Luke, but it is what it is."
With that said, it's not all bad news for Carrick.
Man United captain Harry Maguire will be available for selection as he served his one-game suspension - after being sent off for two bookable offences against Watford - on Sunday at Chelsea.
Furthermore, as spotted by the Manchester Evening News, Edinson Cavani has dropped a hint on Instagram which suggests he is in line for a return to the United matchday squad.
Like Varane, the Uruguay international and has not played for United since the 2-2 draw with Atalanta due to an ongoing tendon problem, but his social media activity points towards him making a comeback.
Posting a picture of him celebrating coupled with a trademark bow and arrow emoji, he said: "Those moments that are not forgotten."
Having Cavani available will just boost the attacking options at Carrick's disposal which already includes the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood.
