Manchester United have a brilliant chance to close the gap on a Premier League top four place when they face Everton at Old Trafford today.
United's recent victories against Tottenham and Man City have seen them climb up the table to fifth and the team directly above them, Chelsea, fell to their fourth defeat in five games against Bournemouth on Saturday.
So should United get the win against Everton they will move within two points of Chelsea, who face trips to Arsenal and Spurs before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer met Erling Haaland's representatives on Friday as United ramp up their interest in the RB Salzburg striker amid immense competition.
The striker has burst on to the scene this season with a brilliant debut Champions League campaign as he scored eight goals in six games.
Stay tuned for all the latest United news on our live blog below.
Key Events
Team news
Here’s a round up of what we know with regards to team news for this afternoon’s game.
Paul Pogba is still out as is Eric Bailly, Diogo Dalot, Marcos Rojo and Timothy Fosu-Mensah.
Nemanja Matic and Phil Jones were not spotted arriving at the team hotel with the rest of the squad but Jesse Lingard is back in contention having missed Thursday’s game with a knock he picked up in the Manchester derby.
Manchester United fans have five new youngsters to be excited about
Twelve months ago it was Mason Greenwood and on Friday night it was Dillon Hoogewerf.
The Dutch summer signing from Ajax did not deliver an overall performance quite as spellbinding as Greenwood’s against Chelsea last December, but he provided a moment of magic to rubber-stamp United’s passage into the next round of the FA Youth Cup.
Greenwood’s hat-trick against defending champions Chelsea did not quite get the attention it deserved. That was understandable, though, as around 12 hours later Jose Mourinho was being relieved of his duties as first-team manager.
There was no danger of the same fate befalling Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Saturday after wins over Tottenham, Manchester City and AZ Alkmaar.
Twenty-four hours after Greenwood’s Europa League brace at Old Trafford, Kieran McKenna watched on as United’s latest crop of exciting youngsters embarked on their latest Youth Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Lincoln City.
Manchester United confirm Paul Pogba training return date and team news vs Everton
Manchester United will assess Jesse Lingard before deciding on their squad for the Premier League visit of Everton on Sunday but Paul Pogba is set to return to full training next week.
Lingard missed the 4-0 Europa League win against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night with a muscular injury and is a slight doubt for United’s weekend fixture.
Pogba has only played six times this season after suffering an ankle injury in the draw at Southampton on August 31. The 26-year-old returned for the League Cup third round tie with Rochdale on September 25 and lined up against Arsenal five days later, but has not appeared since.
Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah are also close to recovering from long-term knee injuries and due to resume full training next week. “I’m not sure on Jesse but I hope,” Solskjaer said. “He wasn’t training today so we’ll check him on Saturday probably.
Manchester United 'make contact' with Napoli forward Dries Mertens and more transfer rumours
Manchester United are keeping tabs on Napoli forward Dries Mertens ahead of a summer move, according to reports.
Despite the brilliant form of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in recent weeks — plus the growing potential of Mason Greenwood — United don’t have a huge supply out-and-out strikers in their squad and are looking to strengthen their ranks.
A number of big money moves have been touted, including the likes of Inter’s rising star Lautaro Martinez, Lyon frontman Moussa Dembele and Norwegian prodigy Erling Braut Haaland.
All those names would likely cost an astronomical amount of money due to their age and potential, but there could be a cheaper option available next summer.
Napoli’s rapid forward Mertens is out of contract at the end of the season and according to TuttoMercatoWeb, United have ‘made contact’ over a potential free transfer.
It's match day!
Welcome to today’s United blog. Stay tuned for the latest news ahead of the Everton game.
