The confirmed injury news that Ben Johnson and Kurt Zouma are out for the remainder of the year and possibly beyond means David Moyes must of course reshape his backline.
Vladimir Coufal is back in the right back position but with Ryan Fredericks injured we have no obvious back-up.
The expected replacement centre back pairing is Issa Diop and Craig Dawson for Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma but that puts them at injury risk for the Premier League.
Declan Rice can fulfil a centre back role if required but he would be sorely missed in midfield whilst Arthur Masuaku could be deployed in the back four assuming Aaron Cresswell fails to make an expected return from his injury this weekend.
Another idea is Alex Kral who started life as a defender can fulfil that role again if called upon.
Youngsters Harrison Ashby who can play right-back, Jamal Baptiste and Ali Alese who play as centre backs and Manny Longelo who plays as left-back were left out of the U23 squad this week hinting they could be part of Moyes’ thinking this week.
It would seem less of a risk to play a couple of U23’s in a game we don’t have to win than to risk senior defenders for the Prem at the weekend.
Too right!
Put in the entire back 4 from the Under 23s. they all know each other, communicate and are top of the league!!