The week ahead for Manchester United

We're continuing to reflect on Sunday’s tense Premier League draw with Liverpool at Old Trafford, with Juan Mata's weekly blog bringing us the latest on his injury after he joined Ander Herrera and Jesse Lingard in having to leave the field in the first half.

 

In the evening, Ricky Sbragia’s Under-23s face Reading at Leigh Sports Village, in the quarter-finals of the Premier League International Cup. The game begins at 19:00 GMT and will be shown live on MUTV.

 

Meanwhile, Monday also marks three years since Marcus Rashford made his unforgettable debut against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League. The striker netted twice against the Danish outfit and memorably helped to secure our spot in the last 16 of the Europa League.

It's also the 38th birthday of our still-popular Korean legend, Ji-sung Park. Many happy returns, Ji!

It's time for another United legend's birthday as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turns 46. Whether the Norwegian will have time to celebrate, we're not sure, as our caretaker manager will be holding his pre-match press conference ahead of our midweek trip to Crystal Palace. Look out for team news when he's asked about the fitness of Herrera, Lingard and Mata among others.

Not that our fans ever need an excuse to don their United tops, but Tuesday is officially National Wear Red Day. In the UK, the event encourages everyone to wear something red in order to show their support for raising awareness of heart disease. 

 

The Reds play a second Premier League game in four days by returning to the scene of one of our greatest away wins from last season. It’s just under a year since United last travelled to Selhurst Park, when second-half goals from Chris Smalling, Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic helped us mount a comeback from two goals down to triumph 3-2.

Solskjaer will be aiming to set a new club record by steering his side to an eighth consecutive away victory in all competitions. We've won every match on the road since he was appointed in December, just before the emphatic 5-1 victory at Cardiff.

Today marks the anniversary of the 3-2 win over Arsenal in 2016, when Marcus Rashford scored twice on his Premier League debut to propel the team to a dramatic success over the Gunners. A deflected Ander Herrera strike proved the decisive goal, cancelling out strikes by United Academy graduate Danny Welbeck and World Cup winner Mesut Ozil.

 

Ole is likely to be in front of the press again on Friday morning, as we get set for Saturday’s home match against Southampton. The Saints remain locked in a battle for survival at the bottom of the Premier League table, but have proved to be difficult opponents for many leading sides, especially since the arrival of Austrian manager Ralph Hasenhüttl -  a man known as ‘the Klopp of the Alps’ with a nod to Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp from neighbouring Germany.

 

Elsewhere, the Under-23s take on Norwich (19:00 GMT) at Leigh Sports Village, and it's the 23rd birthday of Lizzie Arnot from our high-flying women's team. Their next match is still nine days away at this point, on Sunday 10 March at home to Leicester City Women.

The Under-18s kick off our competitive weekend by facing West Bromwich Albion at the Aon Training Complex (11:30 GMT), before the first team take on Southampton at Old Trafford (15:00 GMT). It’s also the anniversary of the debut of our all-time record appearance maker, Ryan Giggs. The first of the Welshman’s 963 games saw him come on for Denis Irwin in the 35th minute of a First Division defeat to Everton in 1991. His final appearance came in 2014 during a 3-1 win over Hull City when he was also caretaker boss.

 

We'll keep reacting to Saturday’s game against Southampton, and also celebrate 20 years since the first leg of our epic win over Internazionale in the quarter-final of the 1998/99 Champions League. A very simple formula helped United to a 2-0 victory on a boisterous night at Old Trafford: two David Beckham crosses and two Dwight Yorke headers helped us to edge closer to our first final in the competition since 1968.

Reading this in our app? If not, you might miss some exclusive features not found on ManUtd.com. Download the Official App here.