The newest chapter of a long-standing rivalry between Manchester United and Leeds United kicks off on Wednesday evening.
A midweek contest at Old Trafford has all the makings of a lopsided encounter, with one side aiming at Champions League placings and the other desperately fighting for survival.
Manchester United edged bottom-half Crystal Palace 2-1 at the weekend as Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford found the net to inspire the Red Devils to a 13th consecutive win at home.
However, Casemiro's expulsion midway through the second half was a hefty price to pay, especially considering Erik ten Hag's men have suffered three defeats in four games without the Brazilian in the line-up.
Casemiro's absence is perhaps the only encouragement Leeds fans will hear these days after a disheartening 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest on Sunday proved the end of the road for underperforming boss Jesse Marsch.
After leading the Whites to seven successive winless matches in the Premier League (D3, L4), Marsch couldn't have any complaints about being sacked.
Yet the American tactician's dismissal leaves Leeds without a head coach going to take on one of the most in-form sides in England's top flight.
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Manchester United
Man Utd head into proceedings on the back of their longest winning home streak in all competitions since a club-record run of 19 victories back in 2011 under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Six of those 13 triumphs have come at Old Trafford, with five seeing the Red Devils score at least twice, suggesting their outstanding 17-game unbeaten home league run against Leeds (W11, D6) is safe and sound.
Adding to this sentiment, only Manchester City (16) have put more Premier League goals past Leeds than Man Utd (15) since the Whites' return to the competition in 2020.
Leeds United
Yet to win a single fixture in the Premier League since its resumption on Boxing Day (D3, L3), Leeds should consider themselves lucky for entering this round outside the relegation zone.
But that could be only temporarily, as they sit level on points with 18th-placed Bournemouth and have taken only one point from eight encounters against sides starting the day in the top three since the beginning of last season (D1, L7).
If that's not enough to lower confidence in the visiting camp, the Whites are winless in their last nine midweek Premier League outings (D3, L6), conceding a staggering 30 goals in the process.
Manchester United vs Leeds United Potential Line-ups
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): David de Gea; Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw; Marcel Sabitzer, Fred; Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Wout Weghorst.
Leeds United (4-2-3-1): Illan Meslier; Luke Ayling, Robin Koch, Liam Cooper, Maximilian Wober; Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie; Luis Sinisterra, Brenden Aaronson, Wilfried Gnonto; Georginio Rutter.