Manchester United travel to Turf Moor to take on struggling Burnley with 13 places and 19 points separating the two sides in the Premier League standings. It will be United’s first Premier League game since their sacking of Ruben Amorim, which means that their former player Darren Fletcher will take interim charge of the first team, starting with this fixture against Burnley, who are staring down the barrel.

They are second from bottom in the league, and will need something of a miracle to save their Premier League status come the end of the season. Will the visitors begin the post-Amorim era positively, or will Burnley heap yet more problems on them?

Here’s everything you need to know about the match:

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How to watch

The match will be broadcast on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK, NBC Sports in the U.S., JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates.

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Key Details

Kick-off time: Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 8.15 p.m. GMT (3.15 p.m. ET; 1.45 a.m. IST, Thursday, and 7:15 a.m. AEDT, Thursday)

Venue: Turf Moor, Burnley

Referee: Stuart Attwell

VAR: Craig Pawson

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Injury and Team News

Manchester United

Amad Diallo, D/M, OUT – AFCON
Noussair Mazraoui, D, OUT – AFCON
Bryan Mbeumo, F, OUT – AFCON
Bruno Fernandes, M, OUT – hamstring
Kobbie Mainoo, M, OUT – calf
Harry Maguire, D, DOUBT – knock
Matthijs de Ligt, D, DOUBT – knock

Burnley

Axel Tuanzebe, D: OUT – AFCON
Zian Flemming, F: DOUBT – knock
Connor Roberts, D: OUT – strain
Joe Worrall, D: OUT – knock
Jordan Beyer, D: OUT – knee
Maxime Estève, D: OUT – knock
Josh Cullen, M: OUT – ACL
Zeki Amdouni, F: OUT – ACL

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Talking Points

Post-Amorim bounce — chance for United to go back to basics?

Ruben Amorim is a thing of the past for United now, but they must quickly move on, as they face a fight on their hands in their attempt to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League. United are just four points ahead of 14th-placed Crystal Palace, so this season could again go pear-shaped really quickly for them.

However, as it stands, it seems like the one guarantee is that United will move back to a back four, and that perhaps is a good fit for the players they have available right now, particularly with the unavailable players that they have.

Without Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo, Amad and Mason Mount, United lose a lot of attacking quality. In such a situation, it might help to have more numbers in attack, and go back to the basics — playing at a high tempo, creating overloads in wide areas, runners from midfield making late runs into the box, a target centre-forward who can link up play. It felt like United unnecessarily complicated a lot of things under Amorim, and Fletcher’s first task now is a simplification.

Fletcher will trust the youth, and United need it

More men in attack with a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 is the way for United to go, but currently, they lack enough senior attacking personnel to do it. Fletcher, as the club’s current under-18 coach, knows a lot of the youngsters on their books, including his two sons Jack and Tyler who have been on the bench in recent games.

However, with both Mbeumo and Amad away at AFCON, the opportunity is there for Shea Lacey or Bendito Mantato to step up and stake a claim for more regular football. Fletcher will also have to find a way to deal with United’s issue on the left wing, where they don’t have any player who’s a natural at that position. If there are no readymade solutions with his senior players, then Fletcher certainly comes across as someone who will trust the academy a lot more than Amorim did.

Is this Burnley’s big chance against an uncertain United?

Burnley haven’t won any of their last 11 league games. Their last win was against Wolves in late October. They’ve had some creditable performances in that run of 11 games, but precious little to show for it. Like most sides who are in the middle of such a run, Burnley neither score enough nor defend well enough. They’ve conceded 39 goals this season — only Wolves and West Ham have conceded more.

While the likes of Leslie Ugochukwu and Florentino Luis have been combative in midfield, and there has been the occasional spark from a Josh Cullen or a Zian Flemming, they’ve had previous little consistency in attack — Armando Broja and Marcus Edwards just haven’t been able to light up the Premier League.

United are uncertain, even if Fletcher will be upbeat. That uncertainty is what Scott Parker’s team will have to pry on. They need to start quick. An early goal will lift Turf Moor, and pose further questions on the fragile mentality of these United players. This is a daunting task ahead of Burnley, but it is also a huge opportunity to try and revive their faltering season.

A new lease of life for Zirkzee

A couple of weeks ago, it seemed certain that Joshua Zirkzee‘s United career would be finished in the January transfer window, with lack of minutes under Amorim. However, with the Portuguese now gone, and an opportunity to stake a claim to Fletcher, Zirkzee could be revitalised.

In fact, he was crucial for United at Elland Road. He changed the game after coming off the bench, in a performance that included an excellent assist for Cunha’s equaliser.

Whether he starts with, or ahead of, Benjamin Sesko, Zirkzee has an opportunity to revive his United career amidst all the upheaval at the club.

Cunha is critical for United now

Matheus Cunha played well at Leeds, and adorned the performance with a superb finish for the equaliser. He hasn’t done enough of that in a United shirt, and this fresh start is the right time for him to make him mark on this United season.

He’s had a spark here or there, and some decent performances, but consistency has been lacking. The injury at the start of the season didn’t help his quest for rhythm. However, now he’s had a run of games, there’s some confidence flowing, and an ideal situation for him to grab this United season by the scruff of its neck.

With so many attacking absentees, Cunha needs to step up to be the leader of that attack. It’s not a strange situation for him, he did that for Wolves last season, where he almost single-handedly kept them up in the Premier League with his goals, assists and general attacking play. That is the Cunha United now want to see week on week, as they set about trying to put Amorim behind them in their quest for a top-four finish.