Manchester United head into a midweek fixture riding his with confidence, having just vanquished their arch-rivals, Liverpool, from the FA Cup competition. Now comes a league clash against the bottom side, Sheffield United. Any time you have the top of the table versus dead last, well, you know who the odds makers believe is going to win.
With United so heavily favored, it means quite possibly a chance for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to do some squad rotation. We probably will see a bit of that versus the Blades.
Manchester United vs Sheffield United FYIs
Kick off: 8:15 pm GMT, Wed. Jan 27, Old Trafford
United Starting XI Prediction: go here
Premier League Position: Manchester United 1st, 40 pts Fulham FC 20th, 5 pts
Premier League Form Guide: Manchester United WDWWW Fulham FC LWLLL
Team news for both sides
Marcus Rashford was man of the match versus Liverpool, but he exited in the second half due to what is thought to be a knock. “Marcus felt his knee but we’ll have to do a scan,” Solskjaer explained.
“Hopefully, it’s not too bad but we’ll see tomorrow.”
As for central defender Eric Bailly, he sat out the Sunday matinee tie only as a precaution.
“Eric will be available,” the Norwegian revealed the boss.
“It was just a little thing and I didn’t want to risk him, Victor [Lindelof] was ready, and we had cover on bench. He’s fine, no problem. I can’t say if he’s playing but he’ll be fit and available for selection for Wednesday.”
Turning to the Blades, as many as six first-team players could miss out on this one, with Sander Berge, Jack Robinson, Oli McBurnie, Jack O’Connell and Ben Osborn all banged up. However, Lys Mousset faces a race agasint the clock to be fit in time.
Prediction: Manchester United 2, Sheffield United 0
United know there is simply no margin for error right now with City nipping at their heels and riding a lot of momentum right now. Don’t forget Leicester City either- they’re not exiting the league title race any time soon.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.