Ruud van Nistelrooy unable to make many changes vs Chelsea; experienced midfielder remains a doubt

Manchester United are waiting to run final fitness tests on Christian Eriksen before deciding if he is fit enough to feature against Chelsea on Sunday.

The Dane has arguably been United’s best midfielder this season, registering 7 goalscoring contributions in 11 appearances, but missed out on Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first match as interim manager during the week.

Eriksen played 79 minutes against West Ham, but was replaced by new signing Joshua Zirkzee after sustaining a knock in the 2-1 defeat which led to Erik ten Hag losing his job.

United are also without Toby Collyer after the young midfielder suffered a fresh injury setback, ruling him out of action for the foreseeable future.

Manchester United missing 7 players for Chelsea clash; potentially Christian Eriksen too

This means the interim manager is limited in options at the weekend and is likely to start with Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro in the middle of the pitch, without much cover available on the bench.

“Not many changes,” Van Nistelrooy said when asked about possible alternations to the squad from the 5-2 win over Leicester City in the Carabao Cup, as per ManUtd.com.

“We’re still hoping and working hard to get Christian Eriksen part of the squad. He’s working hard to make it in the last moment.

“And other than that, there’s no news on players that will be available, any other than [Wednesday].”

Other absentees include Antony, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo, Tyrell Malacia, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Leny Yoro.

Sooner Kobbie Mainoo returns the better

New manager Ruben Amorim will hope it isn’t long before United have all of their players back fit.

One that will stand out is Kobbie Mainoo, who is set to have a key role in Amorim’s side one way or another.

It will be interesting to see who Mainoo is partnered by in the middle of the pitch but the club’s priority should be his recovery