Alvaro Arbeloa Faces Injury Challenges Ahead of Manchester United Clash
Alvaro Arbeloa will have to chase his first Premier League win without Kenny Tete.
The Fulham manager confirmed the Dutch defender has been ruled out of Sunday’s clash with Manchester United as he continues to follow concussion protocols after a blow to the head at Anfield.
“Tom is still recovering. Tete won’t be available. We need to see if Sess (Ryan Sessegnon) is available for Sunday,” Arbeloa told Fulhamish, laying out a mixed medical bulletin before one of the marquee fixtures of his early reign.
On Tete, he added: “It’s a concussion after the ball hit him in the Anfield game, so he’s still not available. I think he’ll be ready for an international break. Unfortunately, he’s not ready for a Sunday.”
Cup chaos, league reality
Fulham return to league duty on the back of a wild 3-2 EFL Cup win over West Ham United, a night that briefly washed away the frustration of a stuttering Premier League start. Arbeloa is still waiting for that first league victory, and Old Trafford’s visitors arrive at Craven Cottage with their own problems, making this a chance he cannot afford to waste.
The problem? His defensive options are thinning.
Tete, long regarded as Fulham’s first-choice right-back, has already had a turbulent season. He came close to leaving in the final days of the summer window, with a move to Everton all but lined up. It collapsed when Fulham failed to land a replacement, keeping him in west London but not as an automatic starter.
Under Arbeloa, Timothy Castagne has seized the right-back role. That won’t change on Sunday. Tete’s absence strips Fulham of cover on the bench rather than forcing a rethink of the starting XI, but it leaves Arbeloa walking a tightrope: one injury or red card on that side and the plan unravels.
Selection tightrope for Arbeloa
On the opposite flank, Antonee Robinson is set to continue at left-back regardless of Ryan Sessegnon’s fitness. Sessegnon has already missed Fulham’s last two competitive matches and remains a doubt, his availability likely to be a late call.
Even if Sessegnon makes it, Robinson’s form and reliability mean his place is not under threat. The England international would instead offer Arbeloa a different kind of option from the bench — or a higher-risk, higher-reward choice further up the pitch if Fulham are chasing the game.
So Arbeloa heads into a pivotal home fixture with his back four effectively locked in, but his depth under strain. A first league win is the target. With no natural right-back in reserve and key players still nursing injuries, the margin for error against Manchester United just shrank.
