United will be confident of extending a 13-game unbeaten
league run in the league that has taken them to the top of the table against
the Blades, who have won only once in the top flight this season.
However, Solskjaer’s men could find themselves knocked down
to second by the time they kick-off as Manchester City can go top if they beat
second-bottom West Brom on Tuesday.
United’s fine form continued by knocking Liverpool out of
the FA Cup on Sunday, winning a thrilling tie 3-2.
But Solskjaer is wary of his side slipping back into bad
habits as they have done previously after good runs in his tenure.
“Now I want to see the reaction, how we can now mentally go
again, against Sheffield United. That’s the challenge now,” said Solskjaer.
“We have beaten Liverpool, and everyone is elated, very
happy and they should be, but tomorrow morning I want to see players thinking
about Wednesday night.”
United could be without Marcus Rashford, who limped off with
a knee injury late on against Liverpool.
But Solskjaer will be able to welcome back Bruno Fernandes
to the starting line-up after he came off the bench to score the winner against
the English champions at the weekend with a stunning free-kick.
City face ‘genius’ Allardyce
City sit just two points behind United with a game in hand
to come after a 10-game winning run that has made Pep Guardiola’s men
favourites for the title after a slow start to the season.
Guardiola, though, will have to cope without Kevin De Bruyne
for at least the next month due to a hamstring injury.
On paper, lowly West Brom should pose little threat to City,
but they were the last team to take points off Guardiola’s men.
A 1-1 draw at the Etihad in December still was not enough to
save Slaven Bilic’s job as Baggies boss as he was sacked the next day and
replaced by Sam Allardyce.
The former England manager has managed just one win in seven
games, but Guardiola warned of Allardyce’s ability to spring surprise results.
“Sam Allardyce is a genius to take these teams when everyone
believes it’s over and get results,” said Guardiola on Monday.
“If it happens once, twice or three times, OK you can say
it’s lucky, but that is not the case because he’s done it I don’t know how many
times.”
Top-four battles
A draw with West Brom also sparked the collapse of
Liverpool’s title defence as Jurgen Klopp’s men have failed to win in five
league games to slip to fourth, six points off the top.
When the Reds hosted Tottenham just over a month ago it was
a top-of-the-table clash. Now they meet again locked in a battle just to try
and qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Spurs are a point behind Liverpool, but have a game in hand
and have recovered from their own dip in form to take seven points from the
last possible nine.
Leicester sit between the Manchester giants and Liverpool as
they aim to recreate their title-winning heroics of 2015/16.
The Foxes travel to another top-four contender Everton, who
were the last team to beat Brendan Rodgers’ men eight games ago.
Leicester will be without talisman Jamie Vardy for a few
weeks after a hernia operation, but Rodgers believes his side can cope without
the 34-year-old.
“We have scored 53 goals over the course of the season so
far. Jamie has 13 and 40 of our goals have come from other people,” said
Rodgers.
Despite speculation that Rodgers could be in the frame,
Chelsea did not try to poach the Leicester boss as their new manager after
sacking Frank Lampard on Monday.
Former Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund coach
Thomas Tuchel is instead expected to be named Lampard’s successor and could
even be in place in time for the visit of Wolves on Wednesday.
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Tuesday
Newcastle v Leeds, Crystal Palace v West Ham (both 1800),
West Brom v Manchester City, Southampton v Arsenal (both 2015)
Wednesday
Chelsea v Wolves, Burnley v Aston Villa (both 1800),Brighton
v Fulham (1930), Everton v Leicester, Manchester United v Sheffield United
(both 2015)
Thursday
Tottenham v Liverpool (2000)