Vote for your January 2021 Player of the Month

While the first week of the new year saw us tumble out of the Carabao Cup after a narrow semi-final defeat by crosstown rivals Manchester City, United have made progress in the Emirates FA Cup, beating Watford and - memorably - Liverpool, to set up a fifth-round clash with West Ham United.

There were also Premier League wins over Aston Villa, Burnley and Fulham as we reached the summit of the table, although dropped points against Liverpool, Sheffield United and Arsenal allowed City to overtake us in the final few days of January.

Still, it was an encouraging month overall and three Reds stood out in particular, starting with the skipper...

HARRY MAGUIRE

The 27-year-old's unbroken run of Premier League starts since joining United continued unabated, and the centre-back helped the Reds to three top-flight clean sheets during the month, including a virtually flawless display in a 0-0 draw with champions Liverpool at Anfield. While Maguire's first home goal for the club, in the 2-1 defeat against Sheffield United last week, is a standout personal highlight, the England international weighed in with his usual share of well-timed tackles and heroic blocks, not least from Nicolas Pepe in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Arsenal, as United looked to stem the Gunners' tide after half-time.

Appearances: 9
Goals: 1
Clean sheets: 4
Key stat: All three of Maguire's Premier League goals for United have been headers from corners [via @OptaJoe].

PAUL POGBA

The Frenchman built on an impressive December, only sitting out the Watford FA Cup tie, for which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rang the changes. While Pogba featured in the win over Liverpool a fortnight later, he saved his most eye-catching performances for the Premier League, scoring two brilliant goals in consecutive midweeks to secure six priceless points, at Burnley and then Fulham. Paul also won the decisive penalty, converted by Bruno Fernandes, in the New Year's Day victory over Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Appearances: 8
Goals: 2
Key stat: Since his return to the club in 2016, no Red has scored more league goals from outside the box than Paul Pogba (6) [via BBC Sport].

LUKE SHAW

Shaw was named our Man of the Match after the 0-0 draw at Anfield, with Reds legend Roy Keane calling the left-back's performance against Mohamed Salah and co 'outstanding'. He was brilliant once again in the FA Cup victory over the Merseysiders a week later, but in truth Luke has been putting in consistently strong showings on the flank since recovering from injury at the beginning of December, both defensively - helping the Reds keep three league shutouts - and going forward.

Appearances: 8
Clean sheets: 3
Key stat: Luke has created more chances than any other defender in the Premier League so far in 2021.

Congratulations to Harry, Paul and Luke and commiserations to Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Eric Bailly, who narrowly missed out on a nomination. Scroll down to find out how to vote for your winner...

HOW TO VOTE

The poll is now open in the Official App. Be quick - voting closes on Tuesday 2 February, and we'll announce the winner prior to the Premier League clash with Southampton.