Victor Lindelof addresses his role at Manchester United amid competition for places

Defender Victor Lindelof has said that he has had 'no problem' with starting Manchester United's opening two Premier League fixtures this season on the bench.

The Swede, who joined United from Benfica back in 2017, has watched Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez start the opening two games in the heart of the back-four. They formed Erik ten Hag's first-choice centre-back partnership last season and were hugely successful alongside each other.

Lindelof, however, finished last season as a regular starter for United after Martinez fractured a metatarsal against Sevilla in the Europa League in April. As a result, Lindelof started the Reds' last nine Premier League games of the season, plus both the FA Cup semi-final against Brighton & Hove Albion and the final against Manchester City.

Martinez, however, recovered well and made good progress ahead of United getting their pre-season campaign under way last month, reclaiming his place and demoting Lindelof back to the bench. Despite losing his spot, Lindelof, who replaced Martinez at half-time during the Reds' 1-0 win over Wolves last Monday evening, welcomes the competition for places, insisting it is important to have.

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"I think it is great to have competition for places," Lindelof told Sky Sports. "We have talked about the level that I want to be at and at this level there should be competition for places, otherwise it is not right.

"We are playing at the biggest club in the world, so there should be players who are competing for different positions. It is not a