3 things we learned from Manchester United’s 2-1 loss vs Sheffield United

Same old problems for Manchester United at the back

Once again Manchester United is having a hard time defending set-pieces. The Blades’ first goal was a header off a corner kick in which Kean Bryan was left relatively unmarked until the ball touched his head.

The goal was as simple as it gets, an in-swinging corner into the six-yard box. Bryan moved away from David de Gea after starting in front of him while waiting for the kick and no one followed him until it was too late. It was poor from De Gea, who has looked better this season, but still has inconsistent performances on occasions.

This was the eighth set-piece goal that Solskjaer’s side have conceded this season and this has been an Achilles’ heel for them for the past few seasons.

United have improved defensively this season but if want to have a realistic shot at contending for the title, they will have to fix their set-piece defence and do it fast. Probably bringing in a new defender could help in that cause. But something needs to give sooner of later.