Manchester United's hopes of beating leaders Arsenal on Sunday and closing the eight-point gap in the title race may have been dented by the fact they will be without Casemiro.
The Brazilian midfielder has helped to transform Man Utd since his first Premier League start in October.
But he received his fifth yellow card of the season in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace and will now miss the crunch trip to Emirates Stadium.
Manager Erik ten Hag is confident his side can beat Arsenal without their summer signing from Real Madrid, pointing out they did so in this season's reverse fixture, a 3-1 win at Old Trafford.
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"Casemiro is a really important player for us, and one of the reasons we are in the [good] position we are in now," Ten Hag told the club's official website. "But the last time we beat Arsenal we did it without Casemiro, so we have the squad to make a plan to beat Arsenal."
Looking at Man Utd's performances without Casemiro suggests that they do struggle in his absence, certainly from a defensive point of view.
Without him, United have less possession, concede more than twice as many goals per fixture, and win fewer matches and points.
Man Utd with and without Casemiro
| Casemiro starting | Casemiro not starting | |
|---|---|---|
| Matches | 12 | 7 |
| Possession | 54.9% | 48.8% |
| Shots/match | 15.0 | 12.4 |
| Shots conceded/match | 9.0 | 15.7 |
| Goals conceded/match | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| Win percentage | 66.7% | 57.1% |
| Points/match | 2.3 | 1.7 |
Michael Owen feels Casemiro's absence is a bitter blow.
"Massive loss," the former Man Utd striker says. "You get away without Casemiro in certain games. If they were playing at home to somebody next, a team outside the top four or five, then it's not so bad.
"But when you play against the big boys, when you play against the best teams, you have to have absolutely everybody, all your best players fit and ready to go – and that's a massive blow."
