Manchester United: Jesse Lingard limps off during Bournemouth loss to add to injury woes

Manchester United's injury woes worsened during their 2-1 loss to Bournemouth on Saturday (12 December) after Jesse Lingard limped off midway through the first-half. Stanislas scored just before the two-minute mark in a blistering start for the Cherries and Josh King scored the winner from a delightful set play in the second half after Marouane Fellaini had levelled the game midway through the first-half.

The Red Devils have had a week to forget as their loss to the Premier League new boys on Saturday (12 December), was preceded by their exit from the Champions League group stages at the hands of Wolfsburg on Tuesday (8 December) and now face an anxious wait to find out their opponents in the last 32 of the Europa League.

The extent or the cause of the injury to Lingard is still unknown, but it only adds to Louis van Gaal's troubles as they are already without a number of first-team players due to various injuries. The Dutchman is without Wayne Rooney, Luke Shaw, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian, Ander Herrera and Antonio Valencia due to injury, while Bastian Schweinsteiger served the first of his three-match ban against the Cherries.

The 20-time English champions are facing a crisis going into the busiest part of the season, and the manager has been forced to play youth team stars Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Guillermo Varela in the fullback positions due to lack of cover. Lingard's injury in the 24<sup>th minute saw Andreas Pereira being introduced as Louis van Gaal faces a shortage of options in attack and defence.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the manager will have some respite in the coming weeks with Ander Herrera expected to return for the visit of Norwich City next weekend, while Phil Jones, who made a substitute appearance against Bournemouth, will also be ready to start against the Canaries adding some much needed experience to the back four ahead of clashes against Stoke City, Chelsea and Swansea City during the busy festive period.