Manchester United will welcome rivals Manchester City to Old Trafford, while Premier League leaders Arsenal travel to City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Michael Carrick has the chance to make a fine first impression to his short-term stint as United manager by derailing local rivals City’s Premier League title challenge on Saturday.
City, meanwhile, have the chance to cut the gap on Arsenal to three points at Old Trafford, while United need the points to boost their chances of Champions League football next season.
Before a daunting trip to Arsenal next weekend, Carrick has the chance to galvanise a season at risk of coming completely off the rails.
An FA Cup exit to Brighton last weekend followed a run of just one win in six league games for United either side of Ruben Amorim’s dismissal.
The Red Devils, however, remain well in contention for a place in next season’s Champions League, just three points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool.
Carrick, former United and England midfielder, was unbeaten in a previous three-game interim spell at United after the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021.
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Since then he gained far more managerial experience at second-tier Middlesbrough, but was sacked in June for failing to achieve promotion to the Premier League.
Top of both the Premier League and Champions League, the Gunners are on course for an unprecedented quadruple after FA and League Cup victories this week.
But Arsenal must overcome a poor record at the City Ground against a Forest side keen to make amends to their furious manager.
Arsenal have won in just one of their last five visits to Nottingham Forest.
Forest were dumped out of the FA Cup by second-tier Wrexham on penalties last weekend, sparking an outburst from Sean Dyche.

At the other end of the table, Tottenham’s Thomas Frank and West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo are fighting to save their jobs as the sides clash in a London derby.
Below are the Premier League fixtures scheduled for the weekend:
Saturday
Manchester United v Manchester City
Sunderland v Crystal Palace
Tottenham v West Ham
Liverpool v Burnley
Leeds v Fulham
Chelsea v Brentford
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Sunday
Wolves v Newcastle
Aston Villa v Everton
Monday
Brighton v Bournemouth
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