Man Utd team news: Varane and Højlund latest with two Aston Villa player suspensions

Manchester United will be heading into their tie against Aston Villa with six injuries as Unai Emery has to deal with an upcoming suspension.

Erik ten Hag‘s men recently found themselves dropping to eighth in the Premier League table after a 2-0 loss against West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The fixture was yet another where Manchester United failed to score a goal in the league, which they have done on eight such occasions – no team has failed to score a goal in more Premier League games this season.

Read More: “Long-term” Manchester United transfer target open to January Premier League move

Rasmus Højlund is one of those who has yet to net in the competition, and there was an initial injury scare after he was substituted off after just 57 minutes, but Ten Hag confirmed after the game that the player had been ill in the week and so needed his minutes managed.

Raphaël Varane missed the fixture through illness, but there are not expected to be any delays with his return, and he should be fit to face Aston Villa on Tuesday evening.

“I think hopefully Raphaël Varane will return,” Ten Hag said on Saturday evening.

“And for the rest, maybe Amad Diallo, we’ll see how far he is. He has trained now for two weeks. They are probably the ones who can maybe return.”

United were without their four first-choice central defenders on Saturday, with a debut being handed to 19-year-old Willy Kambwala, who performed well against the Hammers and rightfully earned praise.

Harry Maguire is not expected to be fit to face Villa after he suffered a groin issue against Bayern Munich, while neither Lisandro Martínez nor Victor Lindelöf will rejoin the squad until January 2024.

Casemiro, Tyrell Malacia, and Mason Mount are also unavailable for the tie, but Saturday did see a return to action for Christian Eriksen, who came off the bench as a substitute with five minutes left to play.

Diogo Dalot is available again after serving a one-match ban for his red card in the closing moments against Liverpool.

For Aston Villa, right-back Matty Cash will not be making the trip to Old Trafford as he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Sheffield United. He joins Boubacar Kamara, who is also suspended for the tie.

Pau Torres’ availability is currently unknown after suffering a knock, with Unai Emery also dealing with five other absentees. None of Emiliano Buendia (knee), Tyrone Mings (knee), Bertrand Traore (muscle), Youri Tielemans (calf), and Robin Olsen (knock) are expected back until after the New Year for Aston Villa.