Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan faces a race to be fit in time for the upcoming Manchester Derby after picking up a thigh injury on international duty with Armenia.
The 27-year-old midfielder was taken off in the first half during Armenia’s 3-0 friendly defeat against the Czech Republic after colliding with Marek Suchy and the Armenian FA have now confirmed that he bruised his thigh in the collision.
With Mkhitaryan ruled out for seven to 10 days, this means that the Armenian international captain will miss his side’s opening World Cup qualifier against Denmark in Copenhagen on Monday, as well as making him a major doubt for United’s crunch derby clash on Saturday.
Even if he does recover quicker than expected from this, it is likely that Mkhitaryan may only get himself fit enough for a place on José Mourinho’s bench for the top-of-the-table clash at Old Trafford.
Mkhitaryan has come off the bench in all three Premier League games for United so far as Mourinho beds him into the side after his summer transfer from Borussia Dortmund, but the playmaker put in a lively cameo as the Reds beat Hull City late on last weekend and was a massive contender to start the Derby.
This will undoubtedly be a blow to Mourinho’s planning, but it may allow Jesse Lingard to feature for the first time in the Premier League this season, with the winger yet to play since picking up an injury in United’s Community Shield victory over Leicester City.
