Three ways Man United defence could line-up for Athletic Bilbao after huge injury blow

Manchester United have been hit with another injury blow at the worst-possible time of the season with Diogo Dalot facing a period out of action.

Lisandro Martinez, Joshua Zirkzee, Amad, Ayden Heaven, Matthijs de Ligt and Toby Collyer have been unavailable for Ruben Amorim in recent weeks. However, Friday's news that Dalot may not play again has left United with limited options.

Dalot, who has only missed one game all season, sustained a calf problem in the 1-0 home loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers last week. The wing-back was rested by Amorim and introduced for the final half an hour.

It leaves United incredibly short in the backline. Not only is Dalot capable of playing both left wing-back and right wing-back, he has been regularly selected this season, starting 31 of 33 Premier League fixtures.

"We don't know how long he's going to be out for the next games we'll see until the end," Amorim said. "There is that possibility [that Dalot is out for the season] but we don't know, we'll check week by week.

"He works hard. He can recover quite well. We'll see. He has something in his muscle, his calf. He played all the time but some players have to play a lot of minutes, we have to protect ones who are not able to cope with that. Dalot felt something."

Thankfully, De Ligt and Amad are nearing their return whilst Heaven is slightly further away. It leaves Amorim with not many options to choose from for next week's Europa League semi-final with Athletic Bilbao.

Here, The Manchester Evening News looks at a couple of ways United could line-up in Bilbao next week;

One change

The best-case scenario for United would be to have one of De Ligt or Heaven back. That would allow Noussair Mazraoui to slot into right wing-back to cover for Dalot.

But right now, it doesn't seem likely that either of them will return for the trip to Bilbao meaning Amorim must have to act with the players available to him.

Luke Shaw, who is now back from injury, is an option to slot in at centre-back. But the one that makes more sense is Harry Amass, who has featured in each of the last three games, impressing against Wolves.

That would allow Patrick Dorgu to switch over to right wing-back and Amass to start at left wing-back.

Wildcard option

Another option for Amorim would be to start Shaw at left centre-back and have Mazraoui and Dorgu as the two wing-backs.

The issue with that is that he hasn't started a game of football since England's Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain on July 14. After featuring in Amorim's first three games, the defender only returned to action in the defeat to Newcastle two weeks ago.

It's a risk, but one that could allow Amorim to name a strong defensive line.

Unlikely call

Finally, and perhaps the most unlikely option, is either to play Alejandro Garnacho at wing-back or to start 20-year-old Tyler Fredricson at centre-back.

The academy star started against Wolves and was superb on his Premier League debut. He is able to play in the Europa League after being registered earlier this season but any chances of him starting are slim due to inexperience.

Garnacho is better-suited to play in a more advanced role behind the striker but, with his pace, the Argentine is a tempting option to bomb up and down the wing. That would allow Mazraoui to play in the back three and have two attack-minded wing-backs in front.