The Louis van Gaal revolution at Manchester United is not quite going to plan to say the least.
The Red Devils have failed to win either of their opening Premier League games of the season and hit a 20-year low on Tuesday when they were emphatically dumped out of the Capital One Cup by MK Dons.
United were humiliated 4-0 at the hands of the League One side to mark arguably their worst result since losing to York City in 1995, which was the last time that they played in the second round of the competition.
The day had started so brightly at Old Trafford, with Angel di Maria signing from Real Madrid for a British-record fee of £59.7m.
Van Gaal will hope that the Argentine World Cup star can inject some much-needed pace into the United attack and halt a fall from grace which is accelerating at an alarming rate.
He could make his debut on Saturday when United make the trip to Burnley, who are yet to register a point on the board since their return to the top flight.
The Clarets' poor start to the campaign continued in midweek when they went down to Sheffield Wednesday to join United in becoming a League Cup scalp.
Sean Dyche is enduring frustration in the transfer market as well as on the pitch and has this week seen Leicester City leap ahead of his side in the race to sign top midfield target James McArthur from Wigan Athletic.
However, Burnley's first win of their last Premier League campaign came against United at Turf Moor, and Dyche will be hoping for a repeat this weekend, with confidence shattered on Manchester.
Wayne Rooney, who was appointed England captain on Thursday, and Jonny Evans are the only players from either side who played in that 2009 fixture.
With Chris Smalling injured, Evans should be recalled in defence despite a couple of midweek mistakes, and could be joined in Van Gaal's back three by Marcos Rojo, if the Argentine is granted a work permit in time.
Van Gaal will persist with his 3-5-2 formation and therefore may not be able to fit Di Maria, Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie in a starting XI which may only have two survivors from the Milton Keynes mess.
With Mata having scored seven goals in his last nine appearances when played in a central position and Van Persie still working his way back to full fitness, it could be the manager's Dutch compatriot who is sacrificed.
Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Shinji Kagawa and Jesse Lingard are all sidelined for the visitors, while Danny Welbeck will miss out again as he reportedly prepares to leave the club.
Former United academy graduates David Jones and Tom Heaton are expected to start in what could be a Burnley side showing only one change from their narrow 1-0 defeat to Swansea City.
Stephen Ward could be handed a debut at left-back in place of Ben Mee. Sam Vokes is still months away from a return and therefore Lukas Jutkiewicz will likely hold onto his place up front.
Recent form
Burnley: LLL
Man Utd: LDL
Possible starting lineups
Burnley: Heaton; Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Ward; Arfield, Marney, Jones, Taylor; Ings, Jutkiewicz
Man Utd: De Gea; Jones, Evans, Rojo; Valencia, Cleverley, Fletcher, Young; Di Maria; Mata, Rooney
Sports Mole says: 1-2
No Data Analysis info
