Aursnes back in Benfica’s plans, but Marco Silva has a major headache | OneFootball

Fredrik Aursnes has not had an easy start to the season due to the physical problems he has been dealing with. In addition to returning later from his holidays because of his participation in last summer’s World Cup, the Benfica midfielder has also been dealing with recovery from an injury and a bout of gastroenteritis, all of this with the season already underway.

As he works his way back to peak fitness, Aursnes was called up to the Norway national team, but he has been used in a position that Marco Silva has already made it clear he does not want him to play in. The Nordic player started against Denmark and Portugal at full-back. Against the Danes, the Norwegian played on the left side of the defence - he came off in the 66th minute - and in Sunday’s clash against the Portuguese side he played the entire match on the right side of the defence.

This use away from his usual position for the Eagles could be taking away the routines the footballer had been building up in central midfield, especially if we take into account that Benfica’s number ‘8’ is being exposed to dealing with the pace of his opponents.

It is almost certain that Aursnes should be in Marco Silva’s starting line-up when competition resumes on 11 October against V. Guimarães in the Liga Portugal, but on the other side he faces serious competition fromLeandro Barreiro, who has been in great form this season. The Luxembourg midfielder has 13 appearances, three goals and two assists, spread across 844 minutes on the pitch.

His captain status could carry weight when it comes to deciding the starting eleven, but those doubts will only be cleared up once the entire squad is back together in Seixal, something that should only happen at the start of next week.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.