What games will Casemiro miss following his red card against Southampton?

Casemiro was handed a red card against Southampton, with the Brazil midfielder set to be missing for the next four Man United games.

In Casemiro, Manchester United have a midfielder capable of winning the middle-of-the-park battle single-handedly at times. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure when the deal was made.

However, after a month of watching the Brazilian play with regularity – his quality became clear. The ex-Real Madrid man is a defensive machine, winning tackles galore and putting in genuine effort, with passion, desire and skill.

The midfielder was recently hit with a three-game ban following a dubious red card decision. Thankfully, Case was back for the Carabao Cup final. He’d then play against Liverpool, before less than 35 minutes against Southampton. He didn’t make it to half-time in that match due to another dodgy sending-off.

Casemiro won the ball, before following through into the shin of a Southampton player. When you slow it down, the replay makes what was a good tackle look far worse. Sadly, Andre Marriner in the VAR room did his best to make it look as bad as possible, leading to Anthony Taylor showing the 31-year-old a red card.

Whatever we think of the decision, it’s done now and nothing can change the four-game suspension unless United appeal. I somehow don’t see it being overturned even if United did take that decision.

So, what games will Casemiro miss after the red card?

Well, the suspension is only domestic so the silver lining is that he’ll be available to play against Real Betis this Thursday, while he’ll also be good to go in the Europa League quarter-finals.

First up, Fulham at home in the FA Cup this weekend. The London side are in brilliant form themselves right now (putting their loss to Arsenal aside), so this will not be an easy fixture by any means. With Marcel Sabitzer also out injured, Casemiro’s ban means United are seriously struggling for numbers in the middle of the park.

After the international break, Casemiro will be banned for Newcastle (away), Brentford (home) and Everton (home). All of which are Premier League matches.

On paper, the Newcastle game is the hardest, though both Brentford and Everton will be coming to Old Trafford with a point to prove. None of these games will be easy.

If United can somehow win two of these games then that’d probably be considered a success. That said, I’d love to see us go to Newcastle away and come away with some sort of positive result – in order to maintain the gap between the sides in the league.

It’s just a sad, sad, situation. Yet again, Premier League refereeing inconsistency leaves us all gutted at the decision, particularly when Walker-Peters’ follow-through on Alejandro Garnacho was arguably worse than the Casemiro tackle.

Ah well, all it does is further rejuvenate the dressing room, who’ll be ready to show their fighting spirit even more.

How many points do you think Man United will get in the league games without Casemiro? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.