Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand must cope with the absence of midfield regular Thomas Delaney for Saturday's World Cup 2022 Group D showdown with reigning champions France at Stadium 974.

The Sevilla lynchpin sustained a knee injury in their opening 0-0 draw with Tunisia and had to come off at half time, as Denmark laboured to a point versus their fearless African counterparts.

Delaney's knee problem will take approximately one month to fully heal, and as a result he has been forced to withdraw from the tournament, but Hjulmand has no other concerns to report.

With Delaney now out of contention, the Red and Whites could opt to drop Christian Eriksen into a deeper role alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, as he has done for Manchester United this season.

In his first major international tournament match since his Euro 2020 cardiac arrest, Eriksen created five chances for his teammates, although not a single one of them was converted.

Hjulmand replaced Delaney with Mikkel Damsgaard against Tunisia, and the Brentford man could now come in from the start alongside Andreas Skov Olsen and Kasper Dolberg, leaving Jesper Lindstrom on the bench.

Joakim Maehle and Rasmus Kristensen should line up out wide unchallenged, and the same goes for Andreas Christensen, Simon Kjaer and Joachim Andersen in front of 87-cap goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Kristensen will need to be careful, though, as the Leeds United man is one of two Danes who will be suspended for their final group game with Australia if they are booked here, the other being Mathias Jensen.

Denmark possible starting lineup: Schmeichel; Andersen, Christensen, Kjaer; Kristensen, Hojbjerg, Eriksen, Maehle; Skov Olsen, Dolberg, Damsgaard

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