Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handed Axel Tuanzebe his first Premier League start of the season for Manchester United as he wanted to rest Victor Lindelof.
The Swedish centre-back continues to manage a troublesome back injury and he hasn't started back-to-back fixtures in over a month, so having played in the FA Cup win against Liverpool he is back on the bench against Sheffield United.
Solskjaer has confirmed Eric Bailly would have started instead, but he suffered a knock in training on Tuesday, which means academy graduate Tuanzebe makes his first league start since September 2019.
“It’s a chance for him, he’s been patient, played some cup games and Champions League. We wanted to rest Victor again," Solskjaer told MUTV. “Eric was down to play this game but he had a bang yesterday, he’s sore and bruised and that's unfortunate for him."
United's opponents look doomed to the drop already, sitting 12 points adrift of safety with only win from 19 Premier League games.
Solskjaer expects the half-a-dozen changes he's made, which also includes returns for David de Gea, Alex Telles, Nemanja Matic, Bruno Fernandes and Anthony Martial, to guard against complacency.
“There shouldn’t be any complacency, we freshened the team up with changes, there’s competition for places, when you get the chance grab it and you might be in next time as well," he said.
