Manchester United: Why Christian Eriksen did not play vs Newcastle

When Manchester United signed Christian Eriksen, there were some question marks over whether he was good enough or not to break into the side’s starting XI. Well, in just a few months, the Dane has proven that he is certainly good enough. In fact, he has been one of the club’s stand out players this season till now.

According to stats from Transfermarkt, Eriksen has made 12 appearances across all competitions, and provided 3 assists.

Thus, it came as a surprise when not only was Eriksen left out of the starting XI, but also not on the bench, in the game vs Newcastle United. Naturally, it sparked fears that he had picked up an injury. But that does not seem to be the case and instead, he missed the game through illness.

As reported by Metro, Erik ten Hag said regarding the matter:

"‘He’s ill.‘So we have some illness [in the squad], Marcus Rashford is also under the weather, also not feeling quite well but has enough energy to play a couple of minutes today in the game.’"

Eriksen was not even in the squad as Manchester United played out a goalless draw vs Newcastle United

It is safe to say that it was not the performance or the result that Manchester United were looking for, as they could only manage a 0-0 draw against Newcastle United.

Now, it is important to point out that Eddie Howe’s team have been in top form this season and are one of the top six contenders. Thus, it would be a mistake to overlook them and a goalless draw against the Magpies is not a terrible result by any stretch of the imagination.

One has to wonder though if the result would have been different if Eriksen had been in the condition to play on the day, because it was pretty clear that the Red Devils were missing him.

One can only hope that Eriksen will not be out for any considerable length of time and be back on the pitch as soon as possible.