United face Tottenham without Sesko, Dorgu and Mazraoui as injury crisis deepens

Manchester United will be without three first-team players when they host Tottenham on Saturday, with Benjamin Sesko, Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui all unavailable for a side that has managed just five points from five Premier League games.

The injury list grew during the international break, which proved damaging for Michael Carrick’s squad. Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Karl Darlow all withdrew from their respective national teams, while Dorgu and Mazraoui returned from duty carrying knocks of their own. Amad Diallo, Carlos Baleba and Matthijs de Ligt have been working their way back to fitness at Carrington.

Carrick confirmed the extent of the problems at his pre-match press conference. “Patrick came off and it looks like he will be out for probably a number of weeks,” he said. “Nous came off and took a knock. He’s not quite right yet, so we’ll see how he is. Ben’s a little bit further away, with the issue he has got. He won’t be ready.”

On those returning from international duty, the United manager offered cautious optimism. “Carlos is improving, he’s trained a lot. Amad has done a little bit of training, Marcus has done a little bit of training, Kobbie has done a little bit of training. Little bit mixed between them.”

United sit 12th in the table heading into the weekend, and the schedule offers little respite after the Tottenham fixture. Champions League trips to Atletico Madrid and Como surround a league visit to rivals Leeds the following Sunday, making Saturday’s home game against a Spurs side yet to win this season a significant opportunity to build momentum.

Carrick, who played for Tottenham earlier in his career, was characteristically understated when asked whether the fixture carried extra significance. “Just another game,” he said, before acknowledging the quality of the opposition. “They’re a very good team with some very good players. Just because of the points, I understand the question, but we’re not going into expecting anything less than their best version.”

The United manager also pushed back on the suggestion that five points from five games tells the full story of his side’s start. “Points-wise, I think played a lot better than that at times when you look at the games,” he said. United’s last outing before the break was a 1-1 draw at Fulham, a result that summed up a campaign that began promisingly — including a return to the Champions League — before losing its footing.