Manchester United have had a difficult season in the Premier League, but can still save their season to some degree in the Europa League.
The Red Devils’ mid-season adjustments to Ruben Amorim’s tactical demands have not been made any easier by persistent injuries, most notably to the likes of Amad, who had been thriving under the new boss before facing a significant spell out.
Those issues have also filtered into the defence, requiring adjustments from Amorim at both centre-back and wing-back.
Is Diogo Dalot fit to face Brentford on Sunday afternoon?
Sadly, it seems Dalot is only going to add to Amorim’s woes.
It was confirmed by United last week that the Portugal international had suffered a calf injury that was potentially going to rule him out for the remainder of the season.
Asked about that possibility, Amorim said: "There is that possibility but I don't know, we will check week by week, because he works really hard, he can recover quite well, so we will see.
"He has a problem with his muscle in his calf. He had a sequence of games, he played all the time. We tried to manage but some of the players have to play a lot of minutes.”
While the Red Devils’ boss did not completely rule out a return at some point in the 2024/25 campaign, the mere fact that that is a doubt suggests the Brentford game will come too soon.
That is further backed up by the fact that Dalot was not part of the travelling squad for United’s trip to face Athletic Club in the Europa League.
It is a hammer blow for United, with Dalot an ever-present in the side under both Erik ten Hag and Amorim, accumulating 51 appearances in all competitions before his injury.
Nevertheless, it looks like the Red Devils will need to find a way to do without him for the final part of the current season.
