Slightly belatedly, we look back to Newcastle, where United, presented with the considerable luxury of playing against ten men, made the evening feel like an exercise in self-sabotage, with refereeing oddities, a needless penalty and a performance that gently squeezed the breaks on the Michael Carrick Hype Train

After that, attention turns to the wider football landscape: FA Cup results, the Champions League last-16 ties, and speculation over who might win every available trophy. There is also a look ahead to Villa, a game that now feels less like a routine fixture and more like one of those small but revealing tests by which a season, and perhaps a manager, begins to be judged.

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