PREVIEW: MANCHESTER UNITED V SWANSEA CITY
When and where can I watch it? United welcome Swansea to Old Trafford on Sunday 30 April, with kick-off scheduled for 12:00 BST. The game will be broadcast live on BT Sport in the UK, and fans can also follow the action in ManUtd.com's live match blog and via the club's official Twitter account, @ManUtd. MUTV subscribers can tune in to Match Day Live from 11:00 BST for all the build-up to the game and then listen to live radio commentary, before watching the 90 minutes in full from midnight.
Another quick turnaround... That's right! This weekend's clash comes just over 62 hours after our midweek meeting with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, and represents the Reds' third Premier League game in just seven days. Including August's Community Shield win over Leicester at Wembley, this will be United's 57th game in all competitions this season; by comparison, league leaders Chelsea have played 13 games fewer than the Reds. Midfielder Michael Carrick says the players will be raring to go, however, despite the early start. He told MUTV: “We’ll have to be ready for Sunday. It’s what we do and it’s what we’re here for. The kick-off time is no excuse.”
So, who's available to play? Well, here's what we know so far: Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo definitely won't feature, having suffered significant knee injuries against Anderlecht last week. The pair are joined on the injury list by Juan Mata, as well as defensive duo Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. Paul Pogba misses out again, and Jose Mourinho confirmed that Tim Fosu-Mensah sustained an "important injury" during the derby, while Marouane Fellaini's red card against the Blues means he'll begin a three-match ban this weekend. Meanwhile, the visitors could be boosted by the return of Jack Cork and Martin Olsson, while midfielder Leroy Fer is also expected to be available for the clash.
How are both sides doing? The Reds come into the contest on the back of Thursday's goalless draw against City, a result which extended our unbeaten run to 24 Premier League games. The Reds achieved the same feat in 2010/11, before going on to win the title. A clean sheet in the derby means United have conceded just 24 goals this season, a total bettered only by Tottenham (22). As for Swansea, victory over Stoke City last weekend - their first in seven games - wasn't enough to lift them out of the drop zone. Paul Clement's men are currently two points from safety with four league matches remaining, and still have to face relegation rivals Sunderland.
How have we fared against Swansea in the past? Historically, United have a good record overall against the Welsh outfit. Sunday's match will be the 12th meeting between the sides in the Premier League and the Reds have won seven, drawn one and lost just three of the previous encounters. Mourinho's men came out on top in November's reverse fixture at the Liberty Stadium, with goals from Ibrahimovic (2) and Pogba enough to seal the points. Swansea's first and only Premier League triumph at Old Trafford came at the start of the 2014/15 campaign when, despite Wayne Rooney's overhead kick, the visitors came from behind to win.
We can leapfrog City and Liverpool, right? That's the plan! Victory over the Swans would see United jump up to third in the table, at least temporarily.
Who else is playing this weekend? There is the usual full fixture list over the weekend, spread over Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Here's the programme for Sunday and Monday…
Sunday 30 April
Everton v Chelsea (14:05 BST)
Middlesbrough v Manchester City (14:05 BST)
Tottenham v Arsenal (16:30 BST)
Monday 1 May
Watford v Liverpool (20:00 BST)
www.manutd.com