Marcus Rashford injury: Manchester United forward to miss 'a few games' with muscle injury

Rashford is expected to miss both legs of the Europa League quarterfinal against Sevilla

Marcus Rashford will be unavailable for what Manchester United term "a few games" after picking up a muscle injury in Saturday's 2-0 win over Everton in the Premier League. Though the club are optimistic that their top scorer will be back in time for the final matches of the campaign, Rashford's absence brings with it an almighty headache for Erik ten Hag.

"Subsequent assessment of the injury suggested that Marcus will be unavailable for a few games, but is expected to be back for the season run-in. But there will also be relief about the prospect of his return for important games in the final weeks of the season," United said.

The England international has been in electric form since the World Cup and over the course of the season he has 28 goals in all competitions, by far his best return for a season. Most pertinently for United, only one other player has reached double figures this season, Bruno Fernandes on 10 (of which two are penalties).

"We have many more players across the squad who can score," Ten Hag said last month when questioned over United's reliance on Rashford, who has scored more than a third of his side's Premier League goals and 11 of the 24 they have registered in the top flight since the World Cup. "I think we have players like Bruno, like Jadon Sancho, like Anthony Martial, like Scott McTominay, like Antony. We have enough players with the capabilities to score goals, definitely."

Certainly the return of Martial, who scored the second against Everton at the weekend, will be welcome news for the first leg of United's Europa League quarterfinal against Sevilla on Thursday. However, Ten Hag's insistence that he has a squad of potential scorers does not ring true with the course of his side's season over recent months. Rashford's tally of 11.8 non penalty expected goals (npxG) is more than double that of anyone else, Fernandes is next on 4.9, reflecting an attack that knows to feed the man on form.

Curiously, Rashford does not in fact average the most shots per 90 minutes in this team but the wildly inaccurate and ill timed shooting of Antony has been a cause for some concern among United supporters this season, particularly those who sit behind the goals at Old Trafford. The Brazilian is one of many forwards this season who has scored roughly on par with his xG, the issue for United is not that everyone aside from Rashford has been going through a cold streak but that the white heat of their top scorer has taken attention away from a supporting cast who are putting together low value shooting performances on a weekly basis.

United's top heavy scorers

Premier League 2022-23

	Minutes	Shots	Goals	npxG
Marcus Rashford	2386	79	15	11.8
Bruno Fernandes	2518	59	5	4.9
Anthony Martial	538	13	4	2.6
Jadon Sancho	1098	12	4	2.6
Antony	1276	46	3	3.7
Cristiano Ronaldo	525	25	1	1.9
Wout Weghorst	625	10	0	1.3

Even if they have to cope without Rashford for the longer side of their undetermined timescale, United ought to be well placed to secure a top four finish in the Premier League. They are three points clear of fifth placed Tottenham with a game in hand and have a favorable trip to Nottingham Forest in their next top flight match. After that they travel to Spurs; United's statement offered no indication whether Rashford would be back in time for that game.

For Thursday's quarterfinal first leg, Martial seems likely to be handed the center forward's role, flanked by Sancho and Antony, though the industry of Wout Weghorst could also come into Ten Hag's consideration. Between them that quartet have 21 goals in all competitions this season, one more than Rashford since his return from the World Cup.