Why Dean Henderson could replace De Gea in goal for Man United for the rest of the month
Last Updated: March 4, 2021 3:43 pm
Henderson told to prepare
Manchester United are supposedly preparing for a month without David De Gea, after the Spanish international goalkeeper was absent from the club’s 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace due to ‘personal reasons.’
Dean Henderson came into the side, and has already been informed that he should be ready for more action this month:
Dean Henderson has been told to be prepared for the possibility of playing in the rest of United’s games this month #mufc https://t.co/040kdhjwaK
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) March 4, 2021
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer refused to be drawn on the reason behind De Gea’s absence on Wednesday, but praised Henderson for stepping up, saving a last-minute strike from Patrick Van Aanholt.
“I can’t really say about David, it’s a private matter,” Solskjaer said. “Dean is ready if he’s called upon, you saw that. He kept his concentration.
“I think maybe it would have been called offside [against Van Aanholt] but at the moment I thought that Dean saved us a point because it looked like that was a deciding moment and that was probably the biggest chance of the game, apart from Marcus in the first-half.”
United now turn their attentions to a meeting with Manchester City at the weekend, in a game which could end any remaining hopes of a title challenge.
Baby on the way
A possible reason for De Gea’s absence is the fact that he has a first child on the way, according to Spanish outlet AS.
The Spaniard’s omission came mere hours after former United full-back and Sky Sports analyst Gary Neville tweeted out suggesting that a big decision could soon be made on De Gea’s future:
“A big decision is coming soon,” he replied to a question asking whether the Spaniard’s time at the club is coming to an end.
A big decision is coming soon https://t.co/cNTTHIxivr
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) March 3, 2021
Henderson impressed mightily last season whilst on loan at Sheffield United, and aided in pushing the club comfortably to safety. In his absence, The Blades have managed one of the worst Premier League records this time around, and look destined for the drop.
Man United’s Dean Henderson tipped for Celtic loan in bid to boost European Championship hopes
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer clarifies Dean Henderson’s Man United future
This article was edited by Conor Laird.
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| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City FC | 32 | 44 | 74 |
| 2 | Manchester United FC | 31 | 27 | 63 |
| 3 | Leicester City FC | 31 | 18 | 56 |
| 4 | West Ham United FC | 32 | 11 | 55 |
| 5 | Chelsea FC | 31 | 19 | 54 |
| 6 | Liverpool FC | 31 | 16 | 52 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 32 | 17 | 50 |
| 8 | Everton FC | 31 | 3 | 49 |
| 9 | Arsenal FC | 31 | 8 | 45 |
| 10 | Leeds United | 31 | 0 | 45 |
| 11 | Aston Villa FC | 30 | 10 | 44 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 31 | -10 | 38 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace FC | 31 | -19 | 38 |
| 14 | Southampton FC | 31 | -17 | 36 |
| 15 | Newcastle United FC | 32 | -18 | 35 |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 31 | -5 | 33 |
| 17 | Burnley FC | 31 | -17 | 33 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 32 | -18 | 26 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 31 | -31 | 24 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 31 | -38 | 14 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 21 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 19 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 16 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 14 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 14 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 14 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 13 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 12 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 12 |
| Gundogan, Ilkay | Manchester City FC | 12 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 10 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 10 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 9 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 9 |
| Lingard, Jesse | West Ham United FC | 9 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 9 |
| Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick | Arsenal FC | 9 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 9 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maguire, Harry | Manchester United FC | 0 | 9 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 8 |
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 8 |
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 8 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 7 |
| Luiz, Douglas | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 7 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 8 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 1 | 6 |
| Shaw, Luke | Manchester United FC | 0 | 7 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 7 |
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 0 | 7 |
| Hojbjerg, Pierre | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 0 | 7 |
| Xhaka, Granit | Arsenal FC | 1 | 6 |
| Phillips, Kalvin | Leeds United | 0 | 7 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 7 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
| Targett, Matt | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 7 |
| Holgate, Mason | Everton FC | 0 | 7 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 6 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 6 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 11 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 10 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 9 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 7 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 6 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 6 |
| Pereira, Matheus | West Bromwich Albion | 6 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 6 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 6 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Neto, Pedro | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 6 |
| Gross, Pascal | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 6 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 6 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 5 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United FC | 5 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United FC | 5 |
