Manchester United injury nightmare ahead of Leeds United as two big issues confirmed

Leeds United’s weekend opponents Manchester United have suffered a fresh double injury blow across two positions already causing problems.

The Whites host their old rivals on Sunday with real hope of another big performance, despite seeing their unbeaten start to the campaign coming to an end last weekend. Daniel Farke’s side caused Premier League champions Arsenal plenty of problems but eventually blew a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 at the Emirates.

Under pressure Michael Carrick also saw his side throw away a one-goal advantage ]in far more worrying circumstances to draw 1-1 against 10-man Tottenham Hotspur. Man Utd have now dropped points against the Premier League’s current bottom two - Spurs and Fulham - in consecutive gameweeks.

Man Utd face Atletico Madrid in Spain tonight and two fresh injury concerns emerged on Monday, with midfielder Kobbie Mainoo and left-back Luke Shaw both absent from an open training session. Both started against Tottenham with the former playing every minute and the latter taken off in second-half injury time.

Carrick spoke to the media ahead of his side’s trip to Spain on Monday night and confirmed he will be without his two first-team regulars. The Man Utd boss said: “They've not travelled, both picked up issues in the game at the weekend so they're out.”

There were no further questions on length of injury but with another quick turnaround between Tuesday and Sunday, there are now doubts whether either will be fit to feature at Elland Road. And both positions have been problematic for Carrick, particularly left-back where back-up Patrick Dorgu is also out injured.

Right-back Noussair Mazraoui returned from Morocco duty with an injury and missed Saturday’s draw against Spurs, leaving fellow right-sided defender Diogo Dalot as the only feasible senior option. Mainoo has started five of Man Utd’s six league games in midfield but there are more cover options available.

Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba, both signed in the summer for a combined £118m, are both available with the latter making his debut off the bench against Spurs on Saturday. Mainoo has been clear first-choice alongside Youri Tielemans, however, and his potential absence would be a big blow.