Manchester United told two players can ‘make the difference’ between a successful and unsuccessful season

Former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre believes the fitness of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez will be crucial for Erik ten Hag’s team this season.

United have had a poor overall start to the campaign, with two wins and two losses in their opening four Premier League games.

The performance levels have been the more concerning aspect, rather than the results, even though the team did look much improved in the gut-wrenching loss against Arsenal last week.

However, Ten Hag has proven that he can go on prolonged runs with the team and he is also dealing with many off-field issues, including an injury crisis with the likes of Mason Mount,

Raphael Varane suffered an injury against Nottingham Forest whilst Lisandro Martinez has been substiuted in three out of four games both due to an injury scare and the fact he was on yellow cards.

Luckily, Martinez was fit to travel for international duty with Argentina and is likely to be available for United against Brighton. Varane will remain out for a short period.

The centre-back pairing are the first choice for Ten Hag after gelling well during Martinez’s debut campaign. Their impressive performances were crucial in United’s much-improved defensive form.

Silvestre, 46, believes that it is a ‘worry’ that both players have had inturupted starts to the season and states that the pair can make the difference for Ten Hag’s side if they can remain fit and replicate their performances frokm last term.

“They are starters, so of course it’s a worry,” the former defender told bettingexpert. “For Luke Shaw, it looks like it can be a long injury because they brought in Reguilon. So, it doesn’t look good for Shaw.

“For Varane and Martinez, I don’t hope the injuries will be too long. It would be good if they can come in and perform soon like they did last season.

“Varane and Martinez could make a difference and make the team stronger than it is right now.”