Manchester United travel to Swansea City on Sunday afternoon hoping to get back to winning ways and settle a score with their South-Welsh counterparts in the process.
Garry Monk led his troops to an impressive double over the Premier League giants last season in what proved an excellent first-full season for the young manager.
Swansea City
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Monk has more reason than most Premier League managers to feel optimistic ahead of clashing with Manchester United. This is because the young coach masterminded two victories against them last season for what was City's first double over the Red Devils.
The 36-year-old spoiled Louis van Gaal's coronation with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford on the opening day of the 2014-15 season, before Swansea picked up another scalp by the same scoreline during the reverse fixture in February. Few can be surprised if lightning strikes for a third time on Sunday.
Despite much higher expectations this season, Monk's men have started the 2015-16 campaign in the same swashbuckling manner that won them plenty of admirers en route to their eighth-placed finish last time around - their highest ever top-flight finish.
The road to bettering their achievements of last season could hardly have started at a more ominous location, after being paired with Premier League champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for their curtain-raiser.
Unperturbed, they out-played the Blues in their own backyard and were arguably unfortunate to leave with a 2-2 draw, with Bafetimbi Gomis, Andre Ayew and Jefferson Montero all offering insights into how important they can be this season.
A steady 2-0 win over Newcastle United followed, before last week's 1-1 draw at struggling Sunderland removed some of the gloss from their early-season form.
Still, there has been nothing to suggest that Monk's men will suffer from the same second-season syndrome that has plagued many a manager in the wake of overachievement.
Failing to beat United would not represent a disaster, but a third straight win over them and Monk will certainly consolidate his status as one of England's finest young managers.
Recent form: DWD
Recent form (all competitions): DWDW
Manchester United
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Unbeaten in the Premier League and back in the Champions League proper, there is a sense of normal service being resumed at Old Trafford after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement initially had dire consequences on the 20-time English champions.
Having dropped out of Europe's elite competition under David Moyes, Manchester United are back where they will feel that they belong after Van Gaal's men blitzed Club Brugge 7-1 over two legs to reach the group stages.
The real Wayne Rooney stood up in Bruges on Wednesday night after ending his four-match barren spell with a hat-trick to help them rub shoulders with the continent's heavyweights once more.
However, the Red Devils will need the 29-year-old to bring that red-hot form back to England with him as goal-shy United - despite remaining unbeaten - have yet to set the Premier League alight this term.
They opened the domestic season with two rather unconvincing 1-0 wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, before a stubborn Newcastle United side left the Theatre of Dreams with a hard-fought 0-0 draw last Saturday.
It has been a steady if unspectacular start for United, whose lavish summer spending is yet to be reflected in their performances. Having spent over £200m since last summer, another top-four finish is unlikely to satisfy the club's hierarchy.
However, if their early-season form is anything to go by then Van Gaal and co have a long road ahead of them if they are to win the Premier League and take another step toward restoring the glory days from Ferguson's era.
Recent form: WWD
Recent form (all competitions): WWWDW
Team News
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Adnan Januzaj picked up an injury in midweek and will miss the visit to Wales.
Defender Marcos Rojo, who is yet to make an appearance this term, is also unavailable despite playing an hour of Thursday's Under-21 friendly with Ajax.
Goalkeeper Sergio Romero will continue between the sticks as speculation continues to mount over the future of Real Madrid target David de Gea.
Monk has the luxury of naming an unchanged side for the third successive Premier League outing.
Gomis, who has netted in all three of their league games thus far, is expected to spearhead the attack once more as he bids to maintain his purple patch.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Cork, Shelvey; Sigurdsson, Montero, Ayew; Gomis
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Shaw; Carrick, Schneiderlin; Young, Mata, Depay; Rooney
Head To Head
As noted above, Swansea boast a better record against Manchester United than most in recent seasons. City have won three of the last four meetings in all competitions, with two of those scalps coming at Old Trafford. Both sides have only ever met on 12 occasions, with the Red Devils winning seven overall.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Swansea City 1-1 Manchester United
Despite netting seven times over two legs against Brugge, United have not been quite as free-scoring in the Premier League, scoring just twice in three games - one of them being an own goal. In contrast, Van Gaal's men are also yet to concede a domestic goal and we reckon that Sunday will throw up another tight encounter in which the visitors' defence emerges with more credit than their goal-shy attacking teammates.
Shane Callaghan
