Manchester United will have to make do without midfield enforcer Casemiro when they travel to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United on Saturday evening.

The 31-year-old, who joined United from Real Madrid in August 2022, will miss the trip to South Yorkshire because of a “small issue” he sustained on international duty with Brazil. He requested to come off in last week’s 1-1 draw with Venezuela, complaining about an ankle problem, but was deemed strong enough to start the 2-0 defeat to Uruguay a few days later.

Casemiro, on United’s advice, has stayed in Brazil to “recover as swiftly as possible”, meaning he will miss out this weekend. He has started each of the club’s opening 11 games in all competitions this season.

Unlike last season, however, his absence might not be felt as hard this time around, with his recent performances proving well below his usual high standards. He has regressed this season, failing to dominate proceedings in midfield in the same way he did last term.

At the same time, however, he remains a valued figure in Erik ten Hag’s thinking and would have almost certainly been in line to start at Bramall Lane if not injured. It means, therefore, the United boss will be forced into making a big chance to his team.

According to MEN Sport, below are the three ways the Reds could possibly line up without the Brazilian.

The obvious replacement

Drafted in on transfer deadline day to provide both cover and competition for Casemiro in the defensive-midfield berth, the stage is set for Sofyan Amrabat to become destroyer-in-chief. He started in one of the two holding midfield roles against Brentford last time out, being deployed alongside Casemiro.

Though he struggled to impose himself against the Bees on his first start in midfield, he is the obvious candidate to replace Casemiro as the main midfield anchor. He thrives off winning possession and dictating play from deep.

If he starts at the base of the midfield, tasked with providing defensive nous, he could be joined in the engine room by Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes. Mount would operate as the box-to-box, roaming No.8, whereas Fernandes would operate in the most advanced role as architect-in-chief at No.10.

That would, on paper at least, be Ten Hag’s strongest available midfield trio.

McTominay is rewarded

After stepping off the bench and scoring two dramatic goals against Brentford, Scott McTominay, in truth, ought to be rewarded with a starting berth at Bramall Lane. His heroics deep into stoppage time saved Ten Hag from having to answer an inevitable collection of difficult questions post-match.

The Scot, however, is not a like-for-like replacement for Casemiro, meaning he cannot be tasked with sitting deep and providing a layer of defensive protection for the back-four behind him. It would, alternatively, be sensible for him to play just ahead of Amrabat.

Fernandes is deemed an undroppable figure and will be hoping he can replicate a similar performance to the ones he produced on international duty with Portugal. A trio of Amrabat, McTominay and Fernandes would offer a nice blend and a fair amount of midfield balance.

That, however, would result in Mount missing out on a starting berth. In truth, though, he has not done enough since arriving at the club during the summer to be guaranteed an automatic starting berth.

The worst case scenario

Though Sergio Reguilon, who joined United on loan from Tottenham Hotspur last month, has trained ahead of the clash with the Blades, it may be possible that he is not in a strong enough position to start. He has missed the last four games through a mixture of illness and injury.

In his absence, Victor Lindelof and Amrabat have shared left-back duties, with the former starting on the left of the back-four against Brentford. The Swede went off injured against the Bees, but did feature for Sweden during the break, meaning he could start in that role again if Reguilon is not fit enough to start.

But in the event of Amrabat being tasked with starting at left-back (hopefully not), it would leave United short of bite in midfield. Christian Eriksen could come in to provide a sense of control, but question marks would remain about who slotted into the No.6 berth.

McTominay would be the most likely candidate. Fingers crossed, Ten Hag does not have to give this scenario a moment’s thought.