Manchester United may have a huge decision to make next week.

If the Red Devils lose to Tottenham on Wednesday night and then suffer defeat against local rivals Manchester City on Saturday, they will be dangerously close to the relegation zone.

With Mauricio Pochettino just one of the coaches currently available, will this be the moment Ed Woodward decides to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer?

All the noises currently coming out of Old Trafford suggest Woodward and other United officials are intent on sticking by the under-fire Solskjaer, who has almost been in charge of the team for one year.

But it’ll be fascinating to see how the club reacts if United are still on 18 points after 16 matches.

Lots of United fans on social media want Woodward to hand Solskjaer his P45 now.

The Norwegian might be a club legend but there are serious doubts that he’s the right man for the job.

Solskjaer insists he’s feeling good, despite the speculation surrounding his future, and hit out at ‘lies’ being published in various newspapers ahead of the Spurs game.

"Sometimes you laugh when you read stories about what I've said and stuff,” he told journalists. "At least I know the sources everyone is talking about aren't sources, they are just made up, blatant lies."

However, Solskjaer might be feeling the heat even more now after the Manchester Evening News exclusively revealed that Pochettino wants the United job.

The MEN’s Samuel Luckhurst writes: “Pochettino, recently sacked by Tottenham Hotspur, remains enchanted by the prospect of managing United after he was originally earmarked as Jose Mourinho's successor last season.”

Luckhurst’s tweet has also been retweeted by the ultra-reliable David Ornstein from The Athletic, suggesting the information in the MEN’s report *is* reliable.

Despite being sacked by Spurs last month and replaced by Jose Mourinho, Pochettino remains one of the world’s most revered and sought-after coaches.

The Argentine tactician has already been linked to various top clubs in recent weeks including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

Woodward will be acutely aware that United could miss out on securing Pochettino’s services unless he acts swiftly.

Following today’s news, Pochettino is now the 5/6 favourite to become Man Utd’s next permanent manager, followed by Max Allegri (6/1) and Brendan Rodgers (7/1).

GIVEMESPORT’s Rob Swan says:

If United officials share the same concerns as many fans about Solskjaer then now is the time to act - and Pochettino is the man they should be doing everything in their power to hire, especially if it’s true that he wants to become the club’s new head coach.

The Old Trafford faithful would dearly love to see Solskjaer turn things around at the Theatre of Dreams, but recent results (and performances) have been too concerning to ignore.

United could find themselves just outside the bottom three after the next two matches and that would obviously be completely unacceptable for English football’s most successful club.

Solskjaer is, unfortunately, under-performing right now and will be under no illusions that results and performances need to improve - quickly.

Defeats in the next two matches and Woodward wouldn’t be doing his job properly if he wasn’t at least in contact with Pochettino.

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