Manchester United are in their most difficult period of the season after just nine Premier League games, and with Tottenham and Manchester City to come in the space of the next seven days.
Sandwiched in between is what’s expected to be a difficult Champions League fixture at Atalanta.
All three games need to be won by the Red Devils for the narrative around manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, to change.
At present, his job appears to be on a knife edge, as he looks to find the solution to many of United’s problems, most of which stem from their defending.
In both the 4-2 defeat at Leicester and the 5-0 humiliation at Old Trafford against Liverpool, Harry Maguire was to blame for some of the goals conceded.
The way he dawdled in possession against his old club eventually saw the ball played to Youri Tielemans who made no mistake.
Then a lack of communication with Luke Shaw saw Liverpool easily gobble up a chance handed to them on a plate.
He may be club captain and have cost £80m, but if Maguire isn’t doing the business, then he has to be sacrificed, just the same as any other player in the squad.