Man Utd's Key Defender Ruled Out For A Month After Solskjaer Blamed Premier League Scheduling

Manchester United's key defender Luke Shaw has been ruled out for a month after he suffered an injury during their Everton clash Saturday.

"It can now be confirmed that the 25-year-old is set for a spell on the sidelines, meaning he could miss upcoming Premier League games against West Brom, Southampton and West Ham, as well as Champions League clash with Istanbul Basaksehir, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig," Man Utd said in an official statement Tuesday.

Reacting to Shaw's injury Saturday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called Manchester United’s scheduling an "absolute shambles" after Shaw sustained a hamstring injury in a 3-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park in the Premier League. Solskajer’s side played the Everton match at 12:30 p.m. GMT Saturday despite only arriving back from their Champions League clash in Turkey at 4 am Thursday.

"They set up the boys to fail. We have got Luke Shaw injured because we have played loads of games this season already, been to Turkey on Wednesday, got back at 4 am on Thursday and we are playing a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday," a furious Solskjaer, pointing fingers at those in charge of scheduling, was quoted by Goal, as saying.

"It is an absolute shambles and I cannot praise the boys enough for the character they have shown. That is all I want to talk about. Those boys deserve better than being thrown out here to fail today. The authorities set us up to fail," added Solskjaer in the same interview.

Man Utd have Alex Telles as a back-up as of now. The 27-year-old left-back moved from Porto to Old Trafford this summer. He made his debut against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Champions League earlier this year and has not played for Solskjaer’s side in the last five games. After the PSG game, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to self-isolate for two weeks.

With three wins in their opening seven matches, Manchester United are placed 14th in the 2020-21 Premier League table.

The former Premier League champions are also hoping to have Marcus Rashford back in training soon, who is closely being monitored by their medical team after the star forward suffered a shoulder injury Saturday. Even though there is no confirmation from Gareth Southgate’s England national team about Rashford’s participation in their upcoming matches during the international break, the Three Lions are expecting to have Rashford in the squad for Thursday’s friendly fixture against the Republic of Ireland.