Ralf to speak with media on Thursday

United's Premier League games with Brentford, in London, and Brighton, at Old Trafford, were both postponed last week due to a rise in COVID-19 cases within the squad.

The Carrington training ground was closed for a number of days, with the players making a staggered return from Tuesday of this week.

Now we're counting down the days until the trip to St James' Park on Monday 27 December, when we'll take on Eddie Howe's Newcastle United.

With Friday being Christmas Eve, Ralf will instead address questions from the press on 23 December and fans will be keen to know the latest team news.

Raphael Varane and Edinson Cavani have both been on the sidelines since the beginning of November but were progressing well prior to our last game, with Norwich, while Paul Pogba is back in the UK and working towards a first-team return himself.

Victor Lindelof, Anthony Martial and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were also known to have injury issues so we may hear more on them, as well as any other Red whose involvement in the fixture might be in doubt.

The press conference will be streamed live on ManUtd.com, the Official App and MUTV from 15:30 GMT, while we'll also have video clips and the trending stories from the German across our platforms.

Also look out for Ralf's exclusive interview with club media. We'll publish that in full on the morning of 27 December, directly ahead of the Newcastle game.

As it stands, there's a full Premier League programme across Sunday and Monday, and it reads as follows...

SUNDAY 26 DECEMBER

Liverpool v Leeds (12:30 GMT)
Wolves v Watford (12:30 GMT)
Burnley v Everton (15:00 GMT)
Manchester City v Leicester (15:00 GMT)
Norwich v Arsenal (15:00 GMT)
Tottenham v Crystal Palace (15:00 GMT)
West Ham v Southampton (15:00 GMT)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (17:30 GMT)
Brighton v Brentford (20:00 GMT)

MONDAY 27 DECEMBER

Newcastle v UNITED (20:00 GMT)

Following the visit to the north-east, we entertain Burnley at Old Trafford on 30 December, in our last game of 2021.