Wait for De Ligt return goes on

When Ruben Amorim was asked in the aftermath of his side's 1-1 home draw with West Ham on 4 December if defender Matthijs de Ligt would be fit for the trip to Wolves four days later, the answer was clear – "I think so". At that point, there had been no explanation for why the Dutchman, who had completely the full 90 minutes of the previous weekend's win at Crystal Palace, had missed his first Premier League game of the season. Thirteen weeks and 15 games later, De Ligt remains side-lined.