With the January window shut and progression to the Carabao Cup final secured, attentions return to the Premier League and Saturday’s match against Crystal Palace.

United won 2-0 against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, their 5-0 aggregate scoreline booking them a ticket to Wembley on February 26 where they will face Newcastle United. Apart from the result itself, fans were buoyed to see the return of Jadon Sancho, returning to action after 102 days on the sideline and a number of weeks away from first-team training.

Deadline-day signing Marcel Sabitzer was unable to feature midweek, having not been registered in time, but the Austrian could be drafted straight in to make his debut on Saturday. Erik ten Hag and his team acted decisively to bring the midfielder on loan from Bayern Munich, following a long-term injury to Christian Eriksen.

The welcoming of Palace and Patrick Vieira kicks off a potentially season-defining month in M16, their Europa League double header against Barcelona two of seven games in four weeks that will also see them face Leeds United twice and head to London for the chance to end a six-year trophy drought.

Erik ten Hag has never shied away from talk of silverware and Champions League football since joining Manchester United. The Dutchman arrived at Old Trafford a winner and is determined to maintain that reputation by the time he leaves.

Easier said than done, however, and not least because of the seemingly impenetrable duopoly of Liverpool and Manchester City, two of United’s greatest rivals who have dominated the English game for the last five seasons. It was because of their superiority, and the new-found wealth of Chelsea and Newcastle United, that lofty expectations of those around M16 were lowered – or put on hold, at least.

But as January turns to February, that expectation has returned. City and Liverpool have stumbled, while Chelsea have spent big and improved little. United won nine games in a row before drawing against Crystal Palace and have only lost twice in the Premier League since mid-October.

Ten Hag has often spoken about returning this great club back to where it belongs, fighting for trophies and challenging for titles – and how the club come through this most hectic of months may well see his wish materialise in season one.

New signing Marcel Sabitzer was involved in training for the first time earlier this morning as United prepare to face Crystal Palace.

The Austrian arrived in Manchester on Tuesday night and watched his new side progress into the Carabao Cup final the following evening – he was not registered in time to play.

With injuries piling up in midfield, Erik ten Hag could be minded to throw his new signing in at the deep end on Saturday. Would you like to see Sabitzer start against Palace?

What are your score predictions for Saturday then?

United welcome Crystal Palace to Old Trafford to kick off a potentially season-defining month, with seven games across three competitions in 22 days.

It will be vital to get off to a solid start and a Palace side winless in four represents a good chance to kick-off with three points. But Patrick Vieira’s side showed just last month that they can frustrate United.

I’m backing a relatively comfortable home win and a clean sheet to boot. 2-0 with goals from Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes.

A few days after the World Cup final in Qatar, footage of Raphael Varane in France’s dressing room emerged on social media.

The footage, which showed the defender commanding the dressing room’s attention and giving a rousing speech to his teammates, quickly went viral and it only increased the calls to see Varane made club captain at Old Trafford, instead of Harry Maguire.

Argentina defeated France on penalties in the final of the World Cup in Qatar and Varane played 113 minutes in that match. He collapsed to the floor in exhaustion when finally leaving the pitch in extra time and he returned to the bench knowing his body had given everything. Varane has always seemed to give everything when representing his club or country in his career.

We’ll bring you live coverage of Ten Hag’s press conference at 12.30pm today.

Stay tuned for that dedicated live blog.

Ten Hag wants his players to focus on themselves, not the competition.

“Other than last season when we weren’t consistent, I had good games against the best teams in the country and some of them teams, like City in the last few years, Liverpool and Arsenal this season,” Rashford told Sky Sports.

“They’re probably the best teams in Europe, so it all starts with the belief and winning games against the likes of them, gives you the belief you can go on and win trophies and you’re always competing but we’ve almost had to take a step back from it.

Just focus on yourself and that’s the manager’s mindset, improve your skillset because you can’t compare yourself to other people, you have to just work on yourself day in, day out, and we’ve shown improvement.”

Ten Hag was not prepared to allow Lindelof to leave on loan, according to Bild.

The German outlet has reported that Eintracht Frankfurt made a late attempt to sign Lindelof on loan before the end of the January transfer window but that it was blocked.

It’s said Ten Hag was not prepared to let the centre-back depart, which is not a surprise, considering United have just four senior centre-backs and they remain in four competitions.

Mason Greenwood has spoken for the first time after charges against him were dropped.

Greenwood said in a statement released on his behalf: “I am relieved that this matter is now over and I would like to thank my family, loved ones and friends for their support. There will be no further comment at this time.”

Mason Greenwood has been included in United’s latest Premier League squad list after the charges against the 21-year-old were dropped.

Greater Manchester Police announced today (Thursday, February 2) that criminal proceedings against the footballer have been discontinued. The forward had been charged with attempted rape, engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour and assault, allegations relating to the same woman.

In a statement, United confirmed that the club would conduct an internal investigation to ‘determine next steps’, while Greenwood also released a statement later in the day.

United will conduct an internal investigation to ‘determine next steps’ after all charges against Mason Greenwood were dropped.

Greater Manchester Police have announced today that criminal proceedings against the 21-year-old have been discontinued. The striker had been charged with attempted rape, engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour and assault, allegations relating to the same woman.

United will now carry out their own process and Greenwood will remain suspended from training and games until it’s finished.

Diogo Dalot has resumed training at Manchester United after a three-week lay-off.

Right-back Dalot was forced off in the first-half of United’s League Cup quarter-final win over Charlton on January 10 with a hamstring strain but he could return for the Premier League visit of Crystal Palace on Saturday.

“Hopefully, Scott (McTominay) will be with us soon,” United captain Bruno Fernandes said. “We know Christian (Eriksen) will unfortunately be a bit longer but we are really happy for the team that it gets more and more players fit.

“Diogo is training also with us and will probably be fully fit really soon and that is really good because the manager has more options.”

United kick-off their first game of a frantic February on Saturday when they welcome Crystal Palace to Old Trafford.

The Reds will play seven times over the next four weeks, including a two-legged Europa League tie with Barcelona, two games in four days against Leeds United and the Carabao Cup final to top it off on February 26.

A season-defining month?

Feb 4th – United vs Crystal Palace (15:00) – Premier League

Feb 8th – United vs Leeds (20:00) – Premier League

Feb 12h – Leeds vs United (14:00) – Premier League

Feb 16th – Barcelona vs United (17:45) – Europa League

Feb 19th – United vs Leicester (14:00) – Premier League

Feb 23rd – United vs Barcelona (20:00) – Europa League

Feb 26th – Newcastle vs United – Carabao Cup final

Good morning all and welcome to our United blog this Friday.

Stay tuned throughout the day to keep up with all the news and stay up to date with build-up ahead of tomorrow’s game against Crystal Palace.

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With the January window shut and progression to the Carabao Cup final secured, attentions return to the Premier League and Saturday’s match against Crystal Palace.

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