Manchester United host Ipswich Town on Wednesday at Old Trafford with an aim to return to winning ways in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Ipswich will be hoping to claim vital points in their fight to stave off relegation.
On the back of their defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, United's season was in danger of further unravelling on the weekend when they found themselves down 2-0 at Everton inside 33 minutes. Ruben Amorim's side failed to have a shot on goal for 72 minutes, before Bruno Fernandes' free-kick and Manuel Ugarte's 80th minute goal (his first for the club) saw them fight back to earn a 2-2 draw, with fortune smiling their way after VAR overturned a late penalty awarded to the hosts.
As for Ipswich, they followed up their 1-1 draw against Aston Villa by a 1-4 defeat at home to Spurs. Despite the scoreline, Kieran McKenna's side remained in the contest for much of the game, with Spurs only securing the win with their third goal thirteen minutes from time.
McKenna, who was part of the coaching staff at United prior to his role with Ipswich, returns to Old Trafford having already taken points off Amorim's side this season. A 1-1 draw at Portman Road in November saw Marcus Rashford give the Portuguese boss a dream start to his United tenure with a 2nd minute goal, but that was subsequently cancelled out by Omari Hutchinson's 43rd minute strike.
A similar result at Old Trafford would be quite the boon for Ipswich who lie five points from safety in 18th place. United are 15th, and their tally of 30 points ought to keep them safe but Europe remains a distant dream with the club 13 points behind Bournemouth and Chelsea, who are sixth and seventh in the table.
Ahead of Wednesday's game, here's everything you need to know:
How to watch:
The match will be available on TNT Sports 4 in the UK, Peacock in the United States and JioHotstar in India. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date: Wednesday, Feb 26 at 19:30 GMT (14:30 ET, 01:00 IST)
Venue: Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Darren England
VAR: Craig Pawson
Injury news:
Manchester United
Toby Collyer, M, undisclosed, DOUBT
Noussair Mazraoui, D, knee, DOUBT
Altay Bayindir, G, undisclosed, OUT, estimated return Mar. 2
Amad Diallo, F/M, ankle, OUT, estimated return Jun. 30
Jonny Evans, D, undisclosed, OUT, estimated return Mar. 2
Kobbie Mainoo, M, undisclosed, OUT, estimated return Apr. 1
Lisandro Martínez, D, knee, OUT, estimated return Oct. 1
Mason Mount, F/M, strain, OUT, estimated return Mar. 9
Luke Shaw, D, calf, OUT, estimated return Mar. 1
Tom Heaton, GK, muscle, OUT, expected back early March 2025
Ipswich Town
Wes Burns, F/M, knee, OUT, estimated return Sep. 13
Jens Cajuste, M, ankle, DOUBT
Conor Chaplin, F/M, knee, DOUBT
Julio Enciso, F/M, knee, OUT, estimated return Mar. 15
Chiedozie Ogbene, F/M, achilles, OUT, estimated return May. 3
Kalvin Phillips, M, calf, DOUBT
Christian Walton, G, groin, OUT, estimated return Apr. 5
Expected Lineups:
Manchester United
GK André Onana
CB Matthijs de Ligt | CB Harry Maguire | CB Noussair Mazraoui
LM Patrick Dorgu | CM Bruno Fernandes | CM Manuel Ugarte | RM Diogo Dalot
AM Alejandro Garnacho | AM Joshua Zirkzee
ST Rasmus Højlund
Ipswich Town
GK Alex Palmer
LB Leif Davis | CB Jacob Greaves | CB Dara O'Shea | RB Axel Tuanzebe
DM Sam Morsy | DM Jack Taylor
LW Nathan Broadhead | AM Omari Hutchinson | RW Jaden Philogene
ST Liam Delap
Stats:
Manchester United's most recent defeat to Ipswich Town occured in 1997, a 0-2 defeat in the League Cup. Their last defeat in the Premier League came in 1994, a 2-3 defeat at Portman Road in which Eric Cantona and Paul Scholes scored.
Ipswich's last win at Old Trafford came even before Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of Manchester United, a 2-1 victory in 1984. Their most recent trip to Old Trafford came in 2015, when Wayne Rooney, Andreas Pereira and Anthony Martial scored in a 3-0 win for United in the League Cup.
Ipswich's last goal at Old Trafford came in 1992 - with Chris Kiwomya scoring in a 1-1 draw. They have conceded 18 unanswered goals since, in five visits to the stadium.
Only Southampton (19) have scored fewer goals than Ipswich (24) this season, while only Leicester and Southampton have conceded more goals than Ipswich's 54. Ipswich have the worst xG in the league (24.2 from 26 games), with the fewest touches in the opposition box (450).
Manchester United have the highest tackle success rate in the league (60.2%), and have made more interceptions (281) than any other club.
Bruno Fernandes is the only Manchester United player this season with double digits in goals (10) and assists (11) in all competitions.
Latest news and analysis:
Are you not entertained? Man United go from ridiculous to sublime
Man United had no shots on goal and were terrible for 72 minutes vs. Everton, but they somehow salvaged a 2-2 draw, and a late VAR penalty overturn only added to the drama.
Why the VAR cancelled Everton's penalty vs. Man United, and what exactly happened
Why Everton's overturned penalty against Manchester United is not as straightforward as you might think. Plus: a possible penalty for Aston Villa against Chelsea and red cards for Myles Lewis-Skelly and Illia Zabarnyi.
Man Utd announce up to 200 more redundancies
Manchester United have announced plans to make up to another 200 staff redundant as part of their continuing cost-cutting measures.
Source: Man Utd face Mazraoui injury scare
Manchester United are sweating on the fitness of Noussair Mazraoui ahead of their game against Ipswich Town, a source has told ESPN
Tottenham Hotspur outclass Ipswich Town as revival continues
Tottenham Hotspur winger Brennan Johnson scored twice in the first half before goals from Djed Spence and Dejan Kulusevski wrapped up a 4-1 victory at relegation-threatened Ipswich Town.