Tyrell Malacia left out as Manchester United U21s breeze past Altrincham

Tyrell Malacia was not involved when Manchester United’s U21s beat Altrincham 4-0 in the National League Cup on Tuesday night.

Malacia, who is returning from a long spell out injured, played 45 minutes for the U21s last week against Huddersfield Town.

It was his first competitive appearance for the club in over 18 months due to a serious knee injury and multiple setbacks.

Malacia was spotted taking part in Ruben Amorim’s first training session as head coach on Monday as he pushes himself closer to full fitness and match sharpness.

United are bound to take their time with Malacia because he has missed so much football, but many expected the Netherlands international to feature in last night’s win over Altrincham.

However, Malacia was not involved in the cup clash.

According to AcademyScoop, Malacia took part in first-team training on Tuesday afternoon, which made his involvement in the U21 fixture unlikely.

I’m told Malacia took part in today’s training session and so is unlikely to feature tonight for United’s under-21s. https://t.co/l7JrzJ93XI

— SCOOP. (@AcademyScoop) November 19, 2024

Malacia missed the game as a result.

Tyrell Malacia focused on first-team return

It turns out that Malacia’s focus this week could be on the game against Ipswich Town on Sunday. While a starting role is unlikely for the full-back, we could see him feature on the bench for the first time this season. That would be a boost for the team, albeit a small one.

At least the U21s came through their cup tie with flying colours after an excellent hat-trick from Ethan Ennis, while Amir Ibragimov also got his name on the scoresheet.

United are also hoping to welcome back Luke Shaw shortly. The England international has not played for United since February, despite playing in the latter stages of the European Championship with earlier in the summer.

The absence of left-back has seen United deploy right-backs across to the opposite side, but it’s usually Diogo Dalot rather than Noussair Mazraoui filling that void.