Man Utd Hit By Double Injury Concern Ahead Of Man City Clash

Manchester United have been hit by a double injury concern after Luke Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan both picked up problems ahead of next weekend’s huge clash against Manchester City.

Mkhitaryan suffered an injury during Armenia’s friendly with the Czech Republic on Wednesday night and was forced to leave the field after receiving treatment from the national teams physio’s.

The 27-year-old has since undergone further tests to determine the full extent of the injury and unfortunately the Armenian FA have confirmed that the attacker has suffered a thigh injury that’s expected to keep him out for 10 days.

Sky Sports News quote a statement released by the Armenian FA as saying:

“As reported, senior national team captain Henrikh Mkhitaryan received an injury against Czech Republic and as a result was unable to continue the match.

“Mkhitaryan has had a medical examination in a clinic in Mlada Boleslav. Unfortunately, the results are not encouraging.

“Mkhitaryan was found to have an injury in the lower third of the left thigh muscle. Such injuries usually require a week to 10 days to heal, which means that Mkhitaryan will miss the Denmark-Armenia match on September 4.”

Mkhitaryan will miss Armenia’s game with Denmark on Sunday but he’ll also face a race against time to be fit for the huge Manchester derby as United welcome Manchester City to Old Trafford next Saturday lunchtime.

The former Borussia Dortmund playmaker has already returned to Manchester and will be further assessed by United’s medical staff at Carrington over the coming days as they look to get him fit to face Pep Guardiola’s men next weekend.

In a double concern for Jose Mourinho, Sky Sports News confirmed a short time ago that Shaw has been withdrawn from the England squad to face Slovakia in the Three Lions World Cup qualifier on Sunday night.

The left-back made a successful return to the United first team this season after spending most of last year on the sidelines with a broken leg and the 21-year-old was rewarded with a call-up to Sam Allardyce’s England squad.

However, he didn’t train with the rest of the squad at St George’s Park on Saturday and the medical team have now decided it’s best for him not to travel to Slovenia as they carefully manage his workload.

Shaw isn’t believed to have suffered any sort of setback and it’s claimed his withdrawal from the England squad is precautionary but it will still be a concern to United that he’s now been deemed fit enough to take part in the World Cup qualifier tomorrow.

The defender will now head back to Manchester to train with those players who aren’t on international duty and Mourinho will no doubt be keen to keep an eye on Shaw’s fitness over the coming days as he’ll be desperate to ensure the full-back is available for selection against City.