NOW FOR THE BIG TEST OF UNITED’S NEW RESOLVE

A BIG game for Manchester United on Sunday. One might even say massive. This is the moment Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s players must show their resolve. Good teams don’t just save their best for the spotlight of the biggest games. They make winning a habit, no matter the opposition. United now have a run of bread and butter fixtures. This is a proving ground. Last week, before the victory over Manchester City, Solskjaer (below) was reduced to empty boasts about United still being Manchester’s biggest club. In terms of size, of financial clout, that is no doubt true. Even so, it reminded a little too much of the days when City couldn’t win a trophy and their fans were reduced to talking up their importance on phone-ins. The idea of City as a ‘massive club’ became a running joke at Old Trafford. Now those positions are reversed. It is not that United cannot compete with the elite. Their record against the leading clubs this season is excellent. But the great United team, the one Solskjaer played for, never treated lesser fixtures casually. If Manchester United play as they did against City and Tottenham they should beat Everton — and that’s what big clubs do.

There was much jubilation over Arsenal’s apparent return to form against West ham on Monday when, to most neutral observers, it appeared nothing of the sort. West ham are the worst team in the Premier League right now and, for an hour, Arsenal looked mediocre against them. Their three-goal revival did not suggest a corner turned, but an opponent too weak to defend itself. If Arsenal play like that against Manchester City on Sunday they will lose by the same margin, minimum.