Manchester United can use Casemiro suspension to make summer transfer decision

Sometimes the most basic statistics tell the story best of all. When Casemiro starts for Manchester United they win 72% of the time and lose just one in 10 games. When he doesn't start, they win 67% of the time but lose one in four.

Forget the minutiae of numbers that can explain Casemiro's impact on United and what he does so well, the bare stats don't lie. When he isn't involved United find it harder to win games and easier to lose games.

He wasn't signed in time for defeats to Brighton and Brentford, was on the bench for the mauling at Manchester City and was suspended for the defeat at Arsenal when the Gunners rained in 25 shots. You could even add in the 7-0 defeat to Liverpool, when the Brazilian midfielder may well have been absent, given how badly he played compared to the rest of this season.

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There are other examples within games. United were poor at Leeds when they started without him and had to bring him on after 45 minutes against West Ham in the FA Cup. This is a team that finds it hard to operate at the same level when Casemiro isn't playing.

So how they go about navigating four domestic games without him is going to be something taxing the mind of Erik ten Hag this week. After a second red card in three Premier League matches, the 31-year-old will miss games against Fulham, Newcastle, Brentford and Everton.

It could certainly be worse. All of those games are winnable for United and three are at Old Trafford, but how they cope with the absence of a player who has been transformative on and off the pitch since signing from Real Madrid might well condition Ten Hag's plans for the summer.

Within the squad there are limited options for stand-ins.