Sheffield United vs. Manchester United live score and goal updates, plus TV channel

Sheffield United vs Manchester United live score and goal updates as Jonny Evans starts plus TV channel

Man United play Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday and we’ll bring you live match updates in this blog.

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Man United take on Sheff United tonight.(Image: 2023 Getty Images)
Manchester United return to action from the international break with a game against Sheffield United on Saturday night

United went into the break on a high after securing a dramatic 2-1 win over Brentford at Old Trafford thanks to Scott McTominay’s late brace and supporters are hoping that result can be used as a springboard for progress.

Erik ten Hag’s side have suffered a disappointing start to the season, but this weekend’s visit to Bramall Lane represents the perfect opportunity for back-to-back league wins against the side rooted to the bottom of the table.

Regarding the team news, Casemiro is unavailable after picking up an injury playing for Brazil during the break, but Scott McTominay and Antony get starts. Mason Mount and Raphael Varane are on the bench.

Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Tyrell Malacia remain sidelined with their respective injuries, while Sergio Reguilon also misses out.

Follow below for live updates from Bramall Lane.

Sheff United have struggled
This is Sheffield United’s first match at Bramall Lane since a club record 8-0 defeat against Newcastle. The only team to have one point after nine top-flight fixtures and go on to avoid relegation is Leicester in 1983-84, which certainly isn’t a good omen.

The arrival photos
A win is required at Bramall Lane.

McTominay rewarded for his brace
McTominay will be a popular pick after he averted another crisis two weeks ago and his physicality could be key tonight. He was missed here nearly four years ago when United switched to a back three and got steamrollered.

If Sir Alex Ferguson was manager, he would not have started McTominay. A matchwinning impact can be misleading for the next game and the bigger picture is United will have a lot of the ball tonight but there is not an obvious ‘conductor’ in the midfield.

Eriksen is better used off the bench these days but it is telling Ten Hag has not turned to Mount, dropped this evening. He can have no complaints.

Injury crisis continues
According to one respected injury website, these two teams have 18 players unavailable for fitness reasons tonight, split evenly between both. United’s back four is still decimated, but Sheffield United are struggling as well. They’ve switched to a back four tonight as a result of injuries and form and there are concerns amongst the locals that they could get exposed. United fans might be thinking the same thing.

Lindelof starts again
That is not a team many United punters would have gone with. Lindelof was dreadful against Brentford, has been dreadful all season and endured a dreadful time in Brussels, where two Sweden fans were killed. Ten Hag said yesterday Lindelof did not sleep after their match with Belgium was abandoned.

A United staff member told us prior to the Brentford game that Varane would have started with two more days of rest. He has had more than two weeks off and is not starting today. He is a liability.

Victor Lindelof pictured in front of the Stretford End at Old Trafford(Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
19:03TYRONE MARSHALL
A surprising team selection
That’s a surprising team selection from Ten Hag. It was said when he missed the Brentford game that Varane would have played if the game was two or three days later. Now, 14 days later, he’s still not fit to start. Reguilon played in the behind-closed-doors game against Barnsley last week but it’s Lindelof who continues as an out-of-position left-back. There’s some sense in starting McTominay, given his heroics two weeks ago, but it has the feel of a patchwork team.

TEAM NEWS | SHEFF UNITED STARTING XI

TEAM NEWS | UNITED STARTING XI
XI | Onana, Dalot, Maguire, Evans, Lindelof, Amrabat, McTominay, Fernandes (C), Antony, Hojlund, Rashford.

Subs | Bayindir, Varane, Eriksen, Hannibal, Mount, Van de Beek, Garnacho, Martial, Pellistri.

Team news shortly
We’ll bring you the confirmed starting teams in 10 minutes.

Ten Hag on Sheff United
Ten hag spoke at his pre-match press conference yesterday.

He said: “Every game in the Premier League is difficult, if you have seen their results against City and Spurs, they were very narrow wins. If you don’t play your best football, you can have a loss. We won our last game away, finally it’s not about that. You can’t figure out the past and last year we were third in the league, we won a cup, we were in another final, we live in the future, we have to change the future.

The unwanted record
United could start a season with as many as five defeats in their opening nine league matches for the first time since suffering six losses under Ron Atkinson in 1986.

How the club will pay tribute
The players will wear black armbands tonight.

The hosts are winless
Paul Heckingbottom says in his programme notes that “When Manchester United roll into your home it is always a special occasion and they’ve not been without their own problems.”

United’s issues offer some comfort for winless Sheffield United. If the Blades are seeking an omen, the last bottom-of-the-table team United lost to was Sheffield United in January 2021.

Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom(Image: AMA/Getty )
18:11SAMUEL LUCKHURST
Football has lost a legend
When George Best passed away, United’s next game at West Ham and the minute’s applause before kick-off was particularly poignant. Paddy Crerand, in the gantry for MUTV, shed tears for his great friend.

Many United fans will be wiping their eyes after today’s news. Charlton was a hero for many who grew up in an era where the only means of watching a footballer was to go to the match or watch Match of the Day. That gave Charlton, Best and Denis Law a god-like aura.

The word ‘iconic’ is dreadfully overused these days and the Press Association have banned it. An allowance could be made for Charlton but he is worthier of the ultimate status: a legend.

Emotional evening at Bramall Lane
It’s going to be an emotional evening at Bramall Lane after the death of United great Sir Bobby Charlton. There will be a tribute on the PA system before the game and United’s players will wear black armbands, but you can be sure that the away end will pay its own fitting tribute as well to a man who is perhaps the most important figure in the history of this club.

‘A legend and true pillar of United’

Varane sends condolences

Rooney on Sir Bobby Charlton
Wayne Rooney spoke after Birmingham’s game against Middlesbrough.

He said: “I’m still in shock. I saw his image on the big screen at the start of the second half and didn’t know what was happening. He was a legend but more importantly a great human being.”

Sir Bobby Charlton made greats stop in their stride
For those of a generation who did not have the privilege of watching Sir Bobby Charlton caress a football, the most evocative images of him were in Barcelona and in Moscow.

Thirty-one years after Charlton solemnly lifted the European Cup at Wembley, he clasped his hands joyously at Camp Nou and was imbued with the enthusiasm of a child again. Charlton could be seen uttering two cherishable words: “Oh boy.”

Then, in 2008, a camera was fixed on Charlton as Nicolas Anelka skulked towards the penalty spot at the Luzhniki Stadium. Edwin van der Sar smacked his gloves together as though killing a fly, sized up the resigned Anelka, pointed to his left, Anelka went right and so did Van der Sar, a smile widening on his face before he palmed the ball away.

Casemiro joins tributes

Flowers have been laid
Flowers have been laid at the base of the ‘United Trinity’ statue at Old Trafford.

A remarkable life and a remarkable footballer, Sir Bobby Charlton will never be forgotten

Sir Bobby Charlton was a beating heart of United
It’s hard to think of another figure in the history of Manchester United that embodies the club in the way that the great Sir Bobby Charlton did.

Charlton might have been a miner’s son born in Northumberland, but at Old Trafford he became an honorary Mancunian. It is with United he was most closely associated and he was adored by everyone during his long association with the club.

His records of 758 games an 249 goals might have recently been surpassed, but Charlton is probably still considered United’s greatest-ever player and for years he was almost the beating heart of the soul of the football club. Into later life he remained omnipresent, watching from the directors’ box, and until recently he was still called on to offer advice and insight into football matters.

United players to wear black armbands
United players will wear black armbands against Sheffield United tonight as the club pays its respects to Sir Bobby Charlton.

The pre-planned minute’s silence at Bramall Lane for the atrocities in the Middle East will also be expanded to pay respects to Charlton, who died at the age of 86 on Saturday morning.

Charlton is one of the most significant figures in United’s history, playing 758 games for the club and winning the European Cup in 1968, 10 years after he survived the Munich air disaster.

Sir Geoff Hurst joins the tributes
Sir Geoff Hurst has said ‘football will never forget him’ following the death of United legend Sir Bobby Charlton.

Charlton scored 249 goals in 758 games for United and is the second-highest goalscorer in the club’s history after Wayne Rooney.

He is one of just nine players to win the World Cup, the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or in the game’s entire history and his passing aged 86 has left the football world in mourning.

Tribute at Middlesbrough
A picture of Sir Bobby was shown on the big screen during Middlesbrough’s game against Birmingham at the Riverside Stadium after news of his death broke

‘Every United fan will be heartbroken’
The Manchester United Supporters Trust (M.U.S.T) said in a statement this afternoon:

“Every Manchester United fan will be heartbroken to learn of the death of Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the greatest legends ever to wear the red shirt.

“Perhaps more than any other player, Sir Bobby represented a lineage from the history and heritage of our club until the present day

“With his passing, we lose the last player to survive the Munich air crash, the darkest day in our history.

“The loss of Sir Bobby won’t just be felt by Manchester United fans, but by England fans & indeed football fans the world over. Our club and our game has lost one of its all time greats.

“Our love and our thoughts are with Sir Bobby’s friends and family. There truly was only one Bobby Charlton.”

Manchester United statement
“Manchester United are in mourning following the passing of Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the greatest and most beloved players in the history of our club.

“Sir Bobby was a hero to millions, not just in Manchester, or the United Kingdom, but wherever football is played around the world.

“He was admired as much for his sportsmanship and integrity as he was for his outstanding qualities as a footballer; Sir Bobby will always be remembered as a giant of the game.

“A graduate of our youth Academy, Sir Bobby played 758 games and scored 249 goals during 17 years as a Manchester United player, winning the European Cup, three league titles and the FA Cup. For England, he won 106 caps and scored 49 goals, and won the 1966 World Cup.

“Following his retirement, he went on to serve the club with distinction as a director for 39 years. His unparalleled record of achievement, character and service will be forever etched in the history of Manchester United and English football; and his legacy will live on through the life-changing work of the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation.

“The club’s heartfelt sympathies are with his wife Lady Norma, his daughters and grandchildren, and all who loved him.”

World Cup winner and England legend
Charlton likened playing at Wembley as a schoolboy to arriving in paradise – and his dreams came true there.

At the 1966 World Cup, he scored a stunning long-range strike in the group-stage win over Mexico and a brace in the semi-final defeat of Eusebio-inspired Portugal.

A quieter display followed in the final against West Germany, but it mattered not as England triumphed 4-2 after extra-time to be crowned champions of the world.

Charlton would also win the Golden Ball as player of the tournament, while he collected the Ballon d’Or and Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award in 1966.

Wembley would witness another moment to cherish for Charlton two years later.

Part of United’s heralded ‘Holy Trinity’ alongside Denis Law and George Best, he scored twice in a 4-1 extra-time win against Benfica in the European Cup final as United became the first English champions of the continent.

That victory capped the post-Munich rebuilding, with Charlton, along with Bill Foulkes one of only two survivors of the tragedy in the team, opting out of post-match celebrations to remember those who died.

It proved the last major honour of a United career which spanned 758 games and featured 249 goals.

He made his 106th and final appearance for England in the 1970 World Cup quarter-final defeat to West Germany.

Premier League pays respects

‘He was as near perfection as man’
Sir Bobby Charlton was a mesmerising midfielder for Manchester United, a World Cup winner with England and an all-round gentleman.

A key member of the Busby Babes and a survivor of the Munich air crash of 1958, a wonderful 17-year career at Manchester United dovetailed with a remarkable time with England, which peaked with World Cup glory in 1966.

His explosive playing style was underpinned by supreme balance and grace and, with a dip of the shoulder and thunderous shot in either foot, he scored spectacular goals.

“There has never been a more popular footballer. He was as near perfection as man and player as it is possible to be,” former United boss Sir Matt Busby said of Charlton.

Charlton family statement
Statement from the Charlton family:

“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Sir Bobby passed peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning. He was surrounded by his family.

“His family would like to pass on their thanks to everyone who has contributed to his care and for the many people who have loved and supported him. We would request that the family’s privacy be respected at this time.”

Sir Bobby Charlton passes away
We regret to inform you that Manchester United legend and one of the club’s greatest-ever players Sir Bobby Charlton has passed away.

Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.