Injury Rules Man Utd Defender Leny Yoro Out of Chelsea Clash

Leny Yoro is set to miss Manchester United’s trip to Chelsea leaving Michael Carrick’s side with just one senior central defender for Saturday night’s game.

The France Under-21 international, 20, has picked up an injury and has not travelled with the rest of the squad to London.

It remains to be seen how serious the setback is but multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, who asked to remain anonymous in order to protect relationships, indicate he won’t be available for the game at Stamford Bridge leaving Carrick with a selection headache.

As reported by The Athletic earlier this week both Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez will also miss out while serving suspensions after recent red cards.

Maguire was sent off in the draw with Bournemouth earlier this month before seeing his ban upgraded, while Martinez was dismissed for a hair-pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin in Monday night’s defeat by Leeds United.

Matthijs de Ligt is a long-term absentee and hasn’t featured since November with a back injury.

Ayden Heaven, the 19-year-old defender signed from Arsenal in February of last year, is the only recognised senior centre-back now at Carrick’s disposal for what is a crucial game in the race for Champions League qualification.

United sit third in the Premier League ahead of Saturday’s meeting, seven points ahead of Liam Rosenior’s side with six games of the season remaining.

Carrick was already facing the prospect of selecting a second-string defence at Stamford Bridge before the news of Yoro’s absence broke on Friday afternoon.

An injury to the 20-year-old, who was expected to partner teenager Heaven at the back, could hardly have come at a worse possible moment as United travel to play a direct rival for Champions League qualification.

Carrick’s options to replace Yoro are limited and will all but certainly force him to pair the left-footed Heaven, who has not started since a 2-2 draw at Burnley in January under interim head coach Darren Fletcher, with a team-mate playing outside of their natural position.

Noussair Mazraoui and Luke Shaw have previously deputised as centre-halves for United, albeit as part of a back three under Carrick’s predecessor Ruben Amorim. Shaw also occasionally played on the left side of a centre-back pairing under Erik ten Hag.

Manuel Ugarte was deployed alongside Yoro following Martinez’s sending off against Leeds on Monday night, but may be required to start in midfield once again if Kobbie Mainoo is not ready to return to the starting line-up.

None of those options are ideal, however, as United seek to establish a 10-point gap over sixth-place Chelsea and take a step closer to securing a Champions League spot.