Sky Sports contributor Ben Dinnery has claimed that Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot’s recent ‘setback’ is not ‘long-term’.
The Portuguese star was taken off in their Carabao Cup clash against Charlton Athletic just 34 minutes in, which will mean that he is ruled out for the match against Manchester City.
Dalot has been the go-to option for Erik ten-Hag’s side, playing 14 league games and providing one assist. The 23-year-old ranks in the top four performing players in the Red Devils’ squad according to Sofascore with a rating of 7.05.
Demonstrating that he’s been a key player for Man United, so they’ll hope that the injury isn’t too serious.
Speaking to FPL Premier Injuries, Dinnery said the injury doesn’t appear to be ‘as serious as the initial setback that he picked up at the World Cup’ and hopes it’s a ‘precautionary measure’.
He stated (29:46), “It doesn’t look to be as serious as the initial setback that he [Dalot] picked up in the World Cup. So hopefully more of a precautionary measure. So maybe you may get a couple of games out of Wan-Bissaka. Certainly nothing to suggest at this moment that the Dalot setback is long-term.”
TIF’s view on Dinnery’s comments…
We believe that resting Dalot is the right call from Ten-Hag, as the clash with Man City will be a big game but you can’t afford to risk further injury.
A league campaign is a marathon and not a sprint and there’s still a way to go in the season, with Man United having their sights on a top-four finish.
Fourth is where the Red Devils currently stand and have a game in hand on Newcastle, who are third and have the same amount of points as them.
Playing Dalot wouldn’t only risk aggravating an already existing injury but it could rule him out on a long-term basis and Man United have plenty of big games ahead.
They have upcoming fixtures in the league against Arsenal at the end of the month and a two-leg Carabao Cup tie against Nottingham Forest.