Maguire’s Incredible Premier League Record Comes To An End With Aston Villa Injury

Harry Maguire’s substitution against Aston Villa spelled the end of quite a form for the English defender.

When Manchester United acquired Maguire for an immense amount making him the then most expensive defender in club football, many eyebrows were raised. The centre-back’s off-pitch antics and initial hiccups did put further doubt on his form.

However, the two seasons he has had under his belt has certainly put all that to shame and the sheer numbers speak volumes about the defender’s efficacy.

In particular was his impeccable record of starting every single Premier League game and spending each minute on the pitch since signing for the Red Devils.

However, that incredible run came to an end on Sunday when a late on-pitch altercation left him injured. Solskjær was then forced to take him off and bring on Eric Bailly instead.

The numbers the United captain had notched in this period were nothing short of remarkable with 72 Premier League games played and 6467 minutes of cumulative appearances notched in the same time. This comes in better light given the COVID-19 pandemic and the swift nature of games during the initial period of resumption that ended last campaign.

Incidentally, ahead of this week’s packed league fixtures for United, there was much talk as to whether Solskjær ought to keep records aside and rest the likes of Maguire so as to not risk fatigue-related injury.

However, this incident has now put that talk to rest. Any other game week would have still seen the 28-year-old leap right back in for the next match.

Unfortunately though, even without the full nature of his injury known, it is fair to say that he won’t feature against Leicester City and is probably in great doubt for the Liverpool fixture as well.

A real pity given the record he had maintained thus far.