Marco Silva's Hull City may have ended Manchester United's long unbeaten run at the KCOM Stadium last Thursday, but the Red Devils still achieved their overall aim of reaching the EFL Cup final and have since bounced back with a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup.
On Wednesday they get an almost immediate opportunity for revenge as they come up against the Tigers in the two sides' third meeting in three weeks. It is also a chance for Jose Mourinho's men to complete a first league double of the season after Marcus Rashford grabbed a 92nd-minute winner in the clash in East Yorkshire back in August.
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With a huge number of fixtures coming up in a short space of time, Mourinho will be looking for his team to rack up wins against Hull, Leicester City and Watford in their three February league matches in order to keep up the pressure on the five teams above them in the Premier League table.
MAN UTD INJURIES
Eric Bailly's return from Africa Cup of Nations duty has not gone 100 per cent to plan, with his participation in Monday night's reserve clash against Everton being cut short due to a knock to his left ankle. But Mourinho has insisted that the Ivorian is fit to play despite his exit in the 58th minute at Leigh Sports Village, and he is in contention for a spot in the 18 for Hull's visit.
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Elsewhere, Tim Fosu-Mensah is expected to be available despite the knock he picked up in the 4-0 win against Wigan, while Luke Shaw came through his first game in two months unscathed but may be spelled for the midweek clash.
Other than those issues, Mourinho is likely to have a clean slate of health amongst his squad.
MAN UTD SUSPENSIONS
Neither side are troubled by disciplinary issues, with the amnesty on yellow cards at the turn of the year having cleared the decks. With a total of seven bookings in domestic fixtures, Paul Pogba is still three yellows away from a ban.
MAN UTD POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
Having made nine changes for the cup win over Wigan on Sunday, Mourinho is likely to shuffle his pack extensively once more on Wednesday. He has already announced that Ashley Young will play a part after speculation had linked him with a January move to China, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pogba and Antonio Valencia have also been revealed as part of the manager's plans for the Old Trafford fixture.
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With Valencia starting at right-back, Young could either slot in at left-back or be used higher up should the Portuguese decide that Anthony Martial did not do enough at the weekend to earn a second successive start. David de Gea will come back in after being given a few days off by Mourinho, while the likes of Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick are also back in contention.
The sheer volume of matches approaching for United makes team selection a far more fluid matter for Mourinho at the moment than it has been at other times since he took over at Old Trafford. The likes of Luke Shaw, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jesse Lingard, Wayne Rooney and Henrikh Mkhitaryan could all be held back to play some part in the trip to Leicester on Sunday.
HULL CITY TEAM NEWS
The Tigers have been a side transformed since Marco Silva replaced Mike Phelan in the hot-seat, although their away form has yet to reach the levels of their KCOM Stadium successes. While City have won three straight games under the Portuguese, with seven goals scored along the way, a trio of away defeats have seen them ship a total of eight goals and exit both the EFL Cup and the FA Cup.
Sunday's 4-1 loss to Championship Fulham was a particular blow given their relative progress under their new boss, and a flurry of late moves in the January market will be used to try to take the 2016 play-off winners to a competitive level. Andrea Ranocchia has been brought in from Inter on loan and they are hoping to add former Manchester United wing star Nani to their ranks before the close of business on Tuesday.
Silva is likely to name a side much altered from the one which beat United six days previously, with many of his favoured names back in contention including Abel Hernandez and goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic. Recent signings Lazar Markovic and Evandro Goebel could also start.
BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS
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Hull City have picked up just one point in nine Premier League meetings with Manchester United (W0 D1 L8).
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Manchester United are on the current longest unbeaten run in the Premier League (13 games – W7 D6 L0). This is the Red Devils’ longest unbeaten run in the Premier League since March 2013; an 18-game run under Sir Alex Ferguson.
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Manchester United have already attempted more shots on target in their 11 league games at Old Trafford this season (77) than they did in the whole of last season at home (75).
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Wayne Rooney has now scored in 148 different Premier League matches. The only players to score in more are Alan Shearer (190), Frank Lampard (149) and Andrew Cole (149).
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Since the start of 2012-13, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has had a hand in 168 goals in 143 league appearances (127 goals, 41 assists).
TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
For the second league game in succession there is no live TV coverage in the UK of Wednesday night's fixture. The 8pm kick-off will be refereed by Mike Jones, whose last visit to Old Trafford was for the 4-1 EFL Cup win over West Ham United.
