Jose Mourinho Confirms 6 First Team Defenders Could Miss Arsenal Clash Through Injury
Manchester United manager José Mourinho has confirmed up to six first team defenders will be out of action when Arsenal travel to Old Trafford on Wednesday.
The Red Devils are coming into their match against Unai Emery's side without a win in the Premier League in over a month, while the Gunners are currently on a 19 game unbeaten streak across all competitions.
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United struggled to find their feet against Southampton last weekend but showed their team spirit by fighting back from two goals down to rescue a point from their trip to St Mary's Stadium.
However, Mourinho confirmed that the club's defensive weaknesses on the south coast could still be on show on Wednesday, as six senior defenders would be ruled out through injury.
"If our game was [on Tuesday], I'd say [Phil] Jones is not playing, [Chris] Smalling is not playing and [Eric] Bailly is not playing but we will have to wait," Mourinho said, quoted by the club's official website.
"[Antonio] Valencia is not playing. [Luke] Shaw is a doubt. [Matteo] Darmian is back, but I have to wait. Of course, [Victor] Lindelöf is out of the question."
Manchester United have leaked seven goals in their last six games across all competitions since the start of November, highlighting a defensive fragility which Arsenal will look to capitalise on in midweek.
Against Arsenal, Manchester United will face one of the most potent attacks in the whole Premier League, if not across Europe.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the only player in the Premier League to have reached double figures in the scoring charts already, while Alexandre Lacazette is currently level with United's top goalscorer Anthony Martial.
