Carrick’s makeshift defense faces Leeds without four starters

Michael Carrick will deploy center-backs on the flanks again Sunday when Manchester United visit Elland Road. Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui did not board the team flight to West Yorkshire, leaving United without a single recognized starting full-back against Daniel Farke‘s Leeds United.

Dorgu picked up his injury on international duty with Denmark. Mazraoui suffered a knock playing for Morocco. The club expects Mazraoui back sooner—he trained this week—but Dorgu faces a longer spell on the treatment table.

Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, both natural central defenders, are now slated to fill those wide roles. It is a stopgap measure Carrick has resorted to in recent matches as the defensive injuries piled up.

Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo also missed the midweek Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid in Spain. Carrick left their status unresolved Friday.

“Yeah, we’ll see on Luke and Kobbie,” Carrick told reporters.

Benjamin Sesko is definitively out. The striker sustained a shin injury during a September League Cup tie against Brighton & Hove Albion. Club correspondent Sully reported that Sesko remains absent from matchday squads while undergoing further medical checks to establish a return timeline.

United’s depleted roster arrives at Elland Road facing a Leeds side operating well under Farke’s high-intensity system. Premier League returns have historically destabilized clubs relying on momentum built in the Championship—Burnley’s 2023-24 relegation campaign saw them concede 78 goals after promotion—but Farke’s squad has defied that pattern so far this season, pressing aggressively and forcing errors from established top-flight teams.

Carrick took charge of the first team following Ruben Amorim’s dismissal earlier this year, inheriting a fractured dressing room and an immediate run of hostile away fixtures. The Madrid loss extended a poor sequence of results that has dragged United toward the lower half of the table.

The rivalry adds friction to an already difficult afternoon. The M62 corridor derby carries baggage dating back decades, including Eric Cantona’s 1992 transfer from Leeds to Old Trafford and violent clashes between supporters outside stadiums during their last Premier League meetings before Leeds’ 2004 relegation. They met twice in the FA Cup in 2010 and 2021, but Sunday marks a league fixture fraught with historical hostility.

Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.