Ruben Amorim's Manchester United are seeking back-to-back league wins for the first time in the Portuguese head coach's Old Trafford tenure.
Tasks don't come much harder than the one before the Red Devils this weekend as they make the short journey to Merseyside where they will meet Arne Slot's Liverpool.
The Premier League champions have hit a bit of a rough patch of late, relinquishing their grip on top spot to Arsenal, who have taken 16 points from their opening seven games.
Manchester United skipper absent from training before Liverpool game
Liverpool's early season form has waned in recent weeks, losing 2-1 to Crystal Palace and Chelsea in the Premier League, either side of a 1-0 defeat on the road to Galatasaray.
Man United, on the other hand, have registered the highest Expected Goals (xG) total in the entirety of English football's top flight and looked much better than recent showings in their 2-0 win versus Sunderland before the international break.
However, due to the international fixtures, any momentum Amorim had generated with his team's win over the Black Cats risks dissipating before this weekend's game at Anfield.
This is because several of the head coach's key players have not been able to train with the rest of the squad, instead participating in matches for their respective countries.
In many cases, significant travel obligations go hand-in-hand with international participation and Man United are not immune.
Matheus Cunha, Amad Diallo and Casemiro were all missing from Amorim's main training session on Thursday morning, while Lisandro Martinez and Noussair Mazraoui, each returning from injury, are also anticipated to miss out.
Perhaps the biggest potential miss for Man United is Bruno Fernandes who was also granted additional leave by the club following Portugal's international fixtures.
The Old Trafford skipper started both Portugal matches during October's domestic break, latterly against Hungary on Tuesday.
In the absentees' places, Amorim padded out his core training group with a select number of youngsters, including Shea Lacey who was invited to train with England's senior group last week.
Liverpool vs Manchester United kicks off at 4:30pm on Sunday afternoon.
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