Manchester United will aim to keep their fading top-four hopes alive when they welcome Sheffield United to Old Trafford on Wednesday.
The games continue to come thick and fast across Europe as we enter the final weeks of the action-packed 2023/24 season. The elongated Gameweek 34 will offer some rescheduled games on Wednesday night, one of which will have Manchester United hosting Sheffield United at Old Trafford.
Manchester United have endured a horrendous 2023/24 campaign thus far, with the only solace coming in the FA Cup. The uncertainty surrounding Erik ten Hag’s future has grown like wildfire, with the pressure rising on the Dutchman. The Red Devils have a slim chance of clinching a top-four finish while bowing out of the UEFA Champions League and the EFL Cup in the early stages.
However, the hosts come into this game on the back of reaching the FA Cup final, where they will meet neighbours Manchester City. But the victory over Coventry City did not come without complications after Manchester United squandered a three-goal lead before narrowly escaping in the penalty shootout.
As for Sheffield United, it has been doom and gloom at Bramall Lane this season. Unlike their hosts, they did not receive any comfort from cup competitions. In addition, the Blades have been rooted to the bottom of the Premier League for the majority of the 2023/24 campaign, and they need a miracle to ensure safety, with 17th-placed Nottingham Forest ten points ahead of them.
The reverse fixture saw Manchester United eke out a narrow 2-1 win over Sheffield United, with Diogo Dalot scoring the winner in the 77th minute. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Manchester United
Erik ten Hag has new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. Against Sheffield United on Wednesday, the Manchester United manager will be bereft of the services of 12 first-team players.
Scott McTominay, Sofyan Amrabat, and Marcus Rashford are the latest players to pick up injuries after the FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City. The trio will unlikely regain fitness to start the clash with Sheffield United.
They have joined Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Willy Kambwala, Lisandro Martinez, Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelof, Tyrell Malacia, Mason Mount, and Anthony Martial on the sidelines. So, the Dutch tactician has only three fit defenders in his squad.
Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka pick themselves, even though Maguire is playing with an injury, according to Casemiro, who will be the Englishman’s central defensive partner. Andre Onana is an automatic pick between the sticks.
As for the midfield unit, Christian Eriksen will start alongside Kobbie Mainoo in the double pivot. There might not be any backup senior midfielder available on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Rasmus Hojlund will lead the line for Manchester United against Sheffield United, with Antony, Bruno Fernandes, and Alejandro Garnacho completing the numbers in the final third.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Onana; Dalot, Casemiro, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka; Eriksen, Mainoo; Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund
Sheffield United
Unlike his counterpart in the Manchester United dugout, Chris Wilder does not have any new issues to deal with ahead of the trip to Old Trafford. The Sheffield United manager will be without nine first-team players on Wednesday.
Chris Basham, John Egan, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Max Lowe, George Baldock, Jack Robinson, Tom Davies, Daniel Jebbison, and Rhian Brewster fill the bloated treatment room.
Sheffield United will line up in a 3-5-2 formation against Manchester United, with Ivo Grbic taking his spot between the sticks. The central defensive unit should feature Mason Holgate, Anel Ahmedhodzic, and Auston Trusty. Jayden Bogle and Ben Osborn will be the two wing-backs.
The pair will look to contribute on both ends of the pitch while flanking Gustavo Hamer, Oliver Arblaster, and Vinicius Souza in the middle of the park. Finally, Oliver McBurnie and Ben Brereton Diaz should be the two strikers.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Grbic; Holgate, Ahmedhodzic, Trusty; Bogle, Hamer, Arblaster, Souza, Osborn; McBurnie, Brereton Diaz
Key Stats
- Manchester United have won eight of their last ten Premier League games against Sheffield United (D1 L1), although the only defeat in the run was the last time they hosted the Blades at Old Trafford in January 2021 (1-2). Sheffield United ended a run of seven consecutive losses at Old Trafford in that fixture and can win successive games at the venue for the first time since April/December 1973.
- Manchester United have won just one of their seven most recent Premier League games (D3 L3) and are winless in their last four (D3 L1). They previously had a longer run without a league win in April/May 2019 (5).
- When they were promoted to the Premier League in 2019, Sheffield United remained unbeaten in their first nine away games, picking up 15 points in the process (W3 D6). Since then, they have managed only 19 points from 135 available on the road in the competition (W4 D7 L34).
- Manchester United have faced 20 or more shots in their last six Premier League games (157 total – 26.2 per game); since Opta started collecting full shot data in the competition (from 2003/04), only Blackpool have had a longer run of facing 20+ shots (8 games from November 2010 to January 2011).
- No Sheffield United player has been directly involved in more Premier League goals this term than Gustavo Hamer (9 – 4 goals, five assists). He is one strike away from becoming only the third player to record 5+ goals and 5+ assists in the same Premier League season for the Blades, after Brian Deane in 1992/93 (15 goals, ten assists) and Dane Whitehouse in 1993/94 (5 goals, six assists).
Player to Watch
Bruno Fernandes
With his teammates blowing hot and cold in the last few weeks, the onus is on Bruno Fernandes to continue delivering the goods in the final third. The Portuguese international has scored five goals in his five most recent Premier League appearances for Manchester United, netting in the three most recent outings.
Only once has the 29-year-old scored in four consecutive league games for the Red Devils, doing so in February 2021 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. With Fernandes also finding the back of the net in the FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City, he is Manchester United’s best bet to clinch a win on Wednesday, especially if Marcus Rashford is unavailable.
Prediction
Manchester United 2-1 Sheffield United
Sheffield United might feel they have a slim chance of springing a surprise amid Manchester United’s continuously escalating fitness issues. The Red Devils have lost more players to injuries, and their matchday squad will have a threadbare look. So, we might see an evenly contested tie on Wednesday.
Since his return to Sheffield United in December, Chris Wilder has won just two of his 19 Premier League matches with the Blades (D5 L12). While Sheffield United might smell blood due to Manchester United’s crippling injury woes, they will not have enough qualities to take anything home. So, The Hard Tackle predicts another narrow 2-1 win for Erik ten Hag and his charges.