Jose Mourinho returns to Old Trafford on Sunday when his Tottenham Hotspur side face Manchester United in the Premier League.
United go into the game off the back of successive wins over Brighton & Hove Albion over the past week, while Spurs have so far coped well with a particularly relentless schedule.
Match preview
There was drama, controversy and chaos galore in the Premier League last weekend, and these two clubs were at the very heart of it. Put them together this weekend, and add in Mourinho's return to his former club, and surely only more can follow.
Manchester United recorded an unforgettable 3-2 win at Brighton as Bruno Fernandes's 100th-minute penalty - controversially awarded after the final whistle had gone - capped an instant Premier League classic which also included Brighton hitting the woodwork a record five times and netting a 95th-minute equaliser.
While United benefitted from late penalty drama, Spurs suffered from it as Eric Dier was hashly penalised for handball deep into stoppage time to allow Newcastle United to rescue a point with their first shot on target in the 97th minute; Spurs, by contrast had come up against an inspired Karl Darlow, having 11 shots on target and also hitting the woodwork twice.
Both contests will live long in the memory, yet both have also quickly been shunted into the past with the relentless fixture schedule not allowing any time for celebrations or commiserations.
It has been particularly unforgiving for Spurs, whose trip to Old Trafford rounds off a brutal week which will have seen them play four times in three different competitions.
In fairness to Mourinho's men, they have coped with it admirably; the gut-wrenching draw with Newcastle got the week off to a disappointing start, but since then they have knocked bitter rivals Chelsea out of the EFL Cup on penalties and soared into the Europa League group stages with a 7-2 hammering of Maccabi Haifa on Thursday.
Most pleasing of all for Mourinho will be the fact that they have come out of that spell relatively unscathed on the injury front, while also being able to protect their biggest names against the very real risk of burnout.
Harry Kane hit a hat-trick in the Europa League to continue his productive start to the campaign, helping to secure Tottenham's place in a group alongside Ludogorets, LASK Linz and Royal Antwerp - all of whom they will be expected to beat.
For now their focus will be firmly back on Premier League matters, though, and there are plenty of improvements to be made after an inauspicious start to the campaign which has seen them win one, draw one and lose one so far.
Mourinho's enjoyment of clean sheets is well known, yet his side have not kept one in seven outings across all competitions this season; his pleasure at beating a former club where he feels he was harshly treated is palpable, yet he is winless in his last six away league fixtures against sides he previously managed.
Tottenham as a team have struggled with clean sheets on the road for some time now, with their only two from their last 27 such league games coming against sides that have since been relegated. The last time they recorded a shutout against a club currently in the Premier League was in December 2018.
Worse still, Spurs have won only three of their last 30 Premier League away games against the established 'big six', and the last of those was at Old Trafford in August 2018.
That is a record they will likely need to improve significantly if they are to regain their spot in the top four this season, and they will fancy their chances of doing so on Sunday's trip to Manchester.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have looked far from convincing so far this season, losing to Crystal Palace at home on the opening day before riding their luck to pick up their first points of the season at Brighton last weekend.
United are now at risk of conceding multiple goals in each of their first three games of a top-flight season for the first time since 1972-73, as well as losing their opening two home league games for the first time since 1986-87.
That latter scenario has only ever happened four times in United's history, but there is a very real danger of it occurring this weekend if they allow Spurs as many opportunities as Brighton carved out.
Things were much more straightforward for United when they made a second trip to the Amex in quick succession for the EFL Cup fourth round on Wednesday night, running out 3-0 winners and avoiding any of the drama from the prequel.
For all of the frustration surrounding the club off the field - Sunday's match comes the day before the end of a transfer window which promised huge amounts but has so far delivered only Donny van de Beek - United have now won each of their last three games across all competitions, scoring nine goals in the process.
A first Old Trafford triumph since July would certainly set the 20-time champions up nicely for a difficult run of fixtures which sees them face Chelsea, Arsenal and in-form Everton in three of their next four after this.
Sunday's showdown could teach us a lot about both teams' chances of qualifying for the Champions League this season as they look to take early points off one of their fellow top-four hopefuls.
Manchester United Premier League form: LW
Manchester United form (all competitions): LWWW
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form: LWD
Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions): WWWDWW
Team News
Harry Maguire had been a doubt for this match after picking up an ankle injury against Brighton last weekend, but the United captain has recovered and is expected to start.
Fernandes has also emerged as a doubt due to a thigh strain, although he too is considered more likely than not to recover in time for the weekend.
Solskjaer otherwise has no new fitness concerns, with Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe the only players still definitely sidelined for the hosts.
As expected, the Red Devils made plenty of changes in the EFL Cup in midweek, so the likes of Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, David de Gea and Fernandes - if fit - are all likely to return to the side.
The latter of those has now been directly involved in 17 goals from his 16 Premier League outings and, if the rate of penalties being awarded continues as it is, will fancy his chances of bolstering that tally significantly this season.
Mourinho has refused to rule Son Heung-min out of this match completely, despite initially expecting the forward to be out for "a while" with the hamstring injury he picked up against Newcastle last weekend.
Spurs are not likely to take any risks over his fitness having just got through a hectic spell without any serious issues, so Steven Bergwijn could start again on the left.
Giovani Lo Celso is a doubt after being taken off at half time against Maccabi Haifa, but his two-goal haul in that first half means that he is likely to be included if passed fit.
Dele Alli was brought in from the cold as the man to replace Lo Celso and may be in line for a first start since the opening day of the season if the Argentine does not pass his fitness test.
Kane will lead the line as he looks to improve on a record of two goals in 12 Premier League games against Man United following his hat-trick on Thursday.
The England skipper has been Tottenham's top creator rather than goalscorer so far, though; his tally of five assists in his opening three Premier League games of the season is a joint record for the competition.
Gareth Bale, who was persistently linked with United during his time at Real Madrid, will not be ready in time to make his second debut for the club here.
Tottenham's latest new signing Carlos Vinicius will also play no part, having only joined on Friday evening.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Pogba, Matic; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Doherty, Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Hojbjerg, Winks; Lucas, Alli, Bergwijn; Kane
Head To Head
Manchester United have dominated this fixture in the Premier League era - only against Everton have they won more times than their 35 victories against Spurs - but it has been much more even recently.
Of the last 16 league meetings, United and Spurs have both won six apiece with four draws, with two of those Tottenham victories coming at Old Trafford.
A Spurs win away to United is still a rare occurrence, though, and incredibly their last six such triumphs in the top flight have all come under different managers - a run which extends back to Bill Nicholson in March 1974.
Mourinho could extend that run to seven on Sunday, but United are unbeaten in the last three meetings including a 2-1 triumph in the corresponding fixture last season.
We say: Manchester United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
This really is a match which could go either way, but there are still huge question marks over Manchester United's defence and Spurs, even if Son misses out, have the firepower to exploit them.
The hosts have scored in 15 successive Premier League matches, the longest current run in the division, so we expect them to get on the board against a Spurs defence which is by no means watertight itself.
However, on the basis of what we have seen so far this season we expect Spurs to pick up a rare Old Trafford triumph on Sunday.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:dataVideo prediction
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