Ahead Of Deby Manchester, MU's Defense Is Doubtful About Being Able To Hold City's Attack

United manager, Erik ten Hag, acknowledged the weakness in the MU defense (photo: x @manutd)

JAKARTA - Manchester United faced a long injury problem at the back ahead of the derby against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, March 3.

United manager, Erik ten Hag, admitted that he had to solve a "defense puzzle" for the Manchester derby on Sunday.

Harry Maguire has joined Luke Shaw, Leandro Martinez,ten Malacia, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka who were sidelined by injury. Ten Hag is expected to vote from the same squad that passed Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup in the middle of the week.

Sofyan Amrabat returned to the United squad on Wednesday, February 28 on the left, with Diogo Dalot on the right.

"We have to formulate a puzzle because we still lack full-backs. We still lack center-backs. So we have to be creative but I think we can do it. On Wednesday, we showed that we could do it, if we had the right plans," Ten Hag said on the manutd.com website.

"But, more importantly than that, if we have passion, ambition, and desire and determination to win the game, then we are able to do it," he said.

Last week, United suffered a 2-1 defeat against Fulham, halting their best path of the season and dealt a major blow to their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

The trip to Etihad, where United have conceded a total of 10 goals in their last two visits, is a big challenge, but Ten Hag believes they can forget their disappointment against Fulham.

"Of course, it sucks," he said. "It still annoyed me, the game against Fulham. But it happened and, too, we can't forget what happened before."

"Starting January, we are in a very good performance, in a very good time span. We got up (at Forest) and we have to keep this process going. We look forward to the big game coming - big games and good challenges."

"So the team is really excited about that. I'm excited to get into this game, and also the games to come, but Sunday is very important," he said.