Manchester United defender Eric Bailly suffers injury scare while on international duty
Manchester United's precarious defence suffered another setback, with reports emanating that defender Eric Bailly might have suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty with Ivory Coast.
The 26-year-old was included in the starting lineup for the Elephants' 1-1 draw with Belgium in an international friendly, but he pulled up in the 70th minute and was replaced after leaving the field clutching his hamstrings.
Eric Bailly had been brought back to the United starting lineup last weekend, but could not do much as Manchester United were thrashed 6-1 by Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
The former Villarreal man has a chequered injury history, and any setback will come as a huge blow to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as he seeks to get Manchester United back on track.
The Red Devils will be back in league action next weekend when they take on Newcastle United after the international break, and the United boss will hope to have a fully fit squad before the fixture.
A porous defence would be significantly hampered by an injury to Eric Bailly
Last season, Manchester United had the third-best defence in the Premier League, conceding just 36 goals from 38 matches, but the current campaign has been the polar opposite.
So far, the Red Devils have conceded 11 goals from just three matches and are yet to keep a clean sheet in the league.
The manner in which Tottenham, Brighton, and Crystal Place sliced open the backline left much to be desired. Although United picked up a victory against the Seagulls, they would not have won if Brighton been more clinical.
Crystal Palace and especially Tottenham were not so generous and the latter punished United's defence in an embarrassing defeat on Sunday.
Eric Bailly and Harry Maguire were outplayed by a raging Spurs attack. Maguire was criticised for his failure to keep track of Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son in the Spurs attack, leaving fans worried about the impact of an injury to Bailly.
However, Eric Bailly took to his personal Instagram page to reveal that he was perfectly OK and was only suffering from fatigue. "Thanks for worrying about me, but I feel perfectly fine, just fatigue," Bailly wrote.
Any potential injury to Eric Bailly would have severe consequences on Manchester United's season. Their European campaign would be especially affected, as Solskjaer has left Marcus Rojo and Phil Jones off his final Champions League squad.