The pressure is on.
Manchester United's return from the winter break has not exactly gone to plan. All the momentum they had started to build prior to the fortnight gap in action, with wins over Brentford and West Ham, has completely evaporated.
Firstly, United's already slender chances of ending their five-year trophy drought were reduced even further as they were knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties by the Championship's Middlesbrough.
Then, with a big response needed, United's old frailties in character once again bore their ugly head as they could only muster a draw against lowly Burnley.
Both results may well be caveated by poor refereeing decisions and missed sitters and there were certainly some promising signs in the games, especially the attacking displays in the opening 45 minutes of each, but ultimately that doesn't matter.
Only results do. And United need results.
The only way this week could have gone much worse for United is if Burnley took another one of their chances in their period of control and dealt a devastating blow by winning at Turf Moor.
Instead, Ralf Rangnick's side came away with a point, which is better than none, but has still made the quest to finish in the top four more difficult.
With the Champions League now United's only chance of winning a piece of silverware this season, and that seems very unlikely at best, qualifying for next year's edition of the competition is the only minor piece of success they can achieve.
Failure to do so would be catastrophic, especially in their summer recruitment plans for not only players but a new permanent manager as well.
It's pivotal United get back to winning ways on Saturday but that is much easier said than done with Southampton coming to Old Trafford.
United's slip up at Burnley saw them fall out of the top four as they were leapfrogged by West Ham and it also gave both Tottenham and Arsenal the chance to move level on points with them.
While the Gunners still have the chance to do so on Thursday, Spurs wasted the opportunity as they twice squandered the lead and lost to 3-2 to Southampton on Wednesday night.
The Saints giveth but will the Saints taketh away?
Ralf Hasenhuttl's side sublime display in North London earned them an excellent victory and did United a big favour in keeping Spurs off their back. But that very same display should worry them ahead of Saturday.
Only a slow start to the campaign, in which it took them eight games to win their first match, has prevented Southampton from being further up the table this season as they have lost just four times since October 16 - United have lost five in that time - and are really hitting their stride.
Their intense pressing, quicking passing and lethal attacks is the model that Rangnick is trying to instil in Manchester and it has worked well against tough opposition recently.
Prior to the victory over Spurs, Southampton ended Manchester City's 12-game winning streak by holding them to a 1-1 draw and also drew with Antonio Conte's side in December too.
United know all too well how much of a nuisance they can be. The reverse fixture at the start of the season ended in a stalemate and, last season's 9-0 anomaly aside, they have a good record at Old Trafford.
Prior to that insane result, they had won two, lost two and draw three of their previous seven visits to Manchester. Not bad going at all.
Rangnick certainly would have preferred an easier set of opponents for Saturday as he once again looks for his team to make a big reaction. Southampton have shown the danger they possess and United should be worried, because another slip up could prove very costly.
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