Manchester United are set for a busy few weeks as they play catch-up in the Premier League.
Ralf Rangnick's side returned to action after a 16-day break when they faced Newcastle at the start of the week after seeing two matches postponed at the start of the festive period.
United's trip to Brentford and home match against Brighton were both postponed before Christmas due to a Covid-19 outbreak at the club, and now they must find an appropriate time to rearrange them while juggling other commitments.
The Reds will be hoping to avoid a situation like last season when they were forced to play three times in just five days after their home match against Liverpool was rearranged following fan protests at Old Trafford.
But when could the two rearranged fixtures take place? Here are some possible dates which might work.
18th/19th January
The most sensible date for one of the rearranged matches to take place would be on Tuesday 18 or Wednesday 19 January.
United play Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday, 15 at 5:15pm (UK time), and then are off until the following Saturday, when they host West Ham at 3pm.
Brighton face Crystal Palace on Friday 14 so have an eight-day gap between their next match against Leicester, making either of those dates possible for that fixture to take place.
Things are a little more complex with Brentford however, given they face Liverpool on Sunday 16 and Wolves on Saturday 22, making Wednesday the only midweek date they could do.
During the winter break
The Premier League winter break is due to take place between January 23 and February 7 next year, but there is a suggestion this could be shortened, or even cancelled, due to the Covid pandemic.
Due to the compressed season, there was no winter break last year, and it isn't totally out of the question that this one could be scrapped in order to combat the current fixture pile-up.
The fourth round of the FA Cup is due to take place on the weekend of February 5, though if both United and either Brentford or Brighton are knocked out of the competition by then, one of the league fixtures could take place instead.
15th/16th February
The only other solution in the next two months would be for one of the matches to take place on Tuesday 15 or Wednesday 16 in February.
With fourth round replays scrapped in the FA Cup, the midweek should remain free, though Premier League television fixtures have yet to be finalised for then.
United host Southampton in the lunchtime kick-off on February 12 and are not in action until they travel to face Leeds the following weekend — though the exact time and date hasn't been confirmed.
Brentford and Brighton both play at 3pm on 12 February so could both play in the midweek, though their fixtures for the following weekend are yet to be finalised either.
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