Solskjaer aims to keep the pressure on noisy neighbours Man City with a win at The Hawthorns

Manchester United will travel to the West Midlands on Sunday afternoon to face 19th placed West Brom in search of a vital three points to close the gap at the top of the Premier League.

Solskjaer’s side now sit five points behind leaders Manchester City who also have a game in hand – which could see them go eight points adrift of their inter-city rivals.

The Norwegian expressed Sunday’s importance in his pre-match press conference, highlighting the need to return to winning form.

“Sunday is a big one for us in that respect, to get back to winning ways. The two points dropped against Everton was disappointing when it’s the last kick of the ball, but we bounced back really well in the cup against West Ham.”

This season has presented Manchester United with their best shot at the Premier League crown since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, but it seems as if hopes are slowly fading away at Old Trafford.

Brazilian international Fred is set to make his 100th appearance for United against the Baggies, and the manager conveyed his delight the midfielder’s improvement since his arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk.

“It’s Fred himself who has had the hunger and humility to learn and want to improve, stick at it and keep working. There are not a lot of people who can say they’ve played 100 games for Manchester United.”

19-year-old Mason Greenwood will look to return to goalscoring form in the Premier League, having not bagged a league goal since early December.

Attacking duo Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford recently surpassed 250 appearances each for the club and will seek to add to their already impressive goal and assist tallies.

Martial has 78 goals to his name so far, while Rashford boasts an even better 83 in the same amount of games. Bruno Fernandes (30) and Marcus Rashford (27) both rank in the top 5 of goal contributions in Europe this season.

Pre-Fernandes, from the start of the 2019/20 season, Manchester United averaged 1.41 points per game – compared to 2.08 post-arrival. Many have found similarities between the Portuguese and Eric Cantona, and Fernandes also has the highest expected assists from open play in the Premier League this season (5.81).

Scott McTominay is in fine form too after netting the extra-time winner against West Ham in midweek which sent United through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and has scored 7 goals in 30 appearances this season – as many as in his 84 other appearances for the club before this season.

Ivorian centre-back Eric Bailly has not featured since the 2-1 win away at Craven Cottage last month, but returned to training this week and is in contention for making the matchday squad.

Paul Pogba, United’s Player of the Month for January, will miss the trip and an additional few weeks after picking up a thigh injury in last weekend’s 3-3 thriller with Everton.

As for the hosts, Grady Diangana is the only doubt ahead of the matchup, with gaffer Sam Allardyce explaining: “Obviously, it’s been a while so he’ll need a bit more training perhaps, on a more regular basis, then we’ll put him back into the squad.”

Manchester United academy graduate Sam Johnstone is expected to remain between the sticks for Albion, who is enjoying an impressive season for the disappointing sub-par side.

Prost International’s Joe Lyons will be at The Hawthorns this weekend to report on the decisive battle between a title challenger and a relegation battler.