Tottenham return to Premier League action this weekend with a trip to Old Trafford and both sides could be missing some players.
The extended international break ends on Saturday with a big Premier League game for Tottenham Hotspur at Manchester United.
Roberto De Zerbi and his players must finally get their season going after spending a three-week break at the bottom of the Premier League table without a win in their opening five matches. Michael Carrick’s United have won just once so far and are three points clear of North London in 12th place.
Spurs will head to Old Trafford with a few international break concerns, but also some potential returnees and the same goes for their Manchester hosts.
Let’s start with United’s doubts about their welcome. Carlos Baleba could be in line to make his debut following his £70million summer move from Brighton after returning from an ankle injury and featuring in Friday’s behind-closed-doors friendly against Lausanne-Sport.
Striker Benjamin Sesko suffered a calf strain after the Carabao Cup match against Brighton and is out of the Slovenia squad as he could be a doubt for Saturday.
Patrick Dorgu went on to play for Denmark but came off with a thigh problem just half an hour into the Wales game. Noussair Mazraoui suffered a similar back injury on duty in Morocco and ruled him out.
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Carrick awaits the return of Matthijs de Ligt from a long-term back injury, while Amad could return against Spurs if he trains with the squad as the United boss hopes and both Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford withdraw from the England squad but will hope to feature at the weekend.
Manuel Ugarte has been sidelined for the campaign with injuries to his knee ligaments picked up at the World Cup, while goalkeepers Karl Darlow and Tom Heaton have been ruled out.
As for Tottenham, De Zerbi will provide an update on the latest injury news regarding Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke at his press conference on Friday. Both were injured on duty with the Netherlands, with the Spurs captain hurting his hand and feeling dizzy from the pain after being accidentally stamped on, while Van Hecke suffered a toe injury that prevented him from kicking the ball in the previous game.
While Mykhailo Mudryk recovers from an ankle injury he picked up in training, this game could come too early for Pedro Porro after a hamstring problem. Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons are working on rehabilitation from cruciate ligament injuries, but Dejan Kulusevski is nearing a return from a complicated knee injury that kept him out for more than 500 days.
All in all, there are plenty of doubts for both sides and more international games will be played before the players return to London and Manchester.