Manchester United boss Michael Carrick is looking to keep his squad match sharp during the international break, with a behind-closed-doors friendly scheduled for later this week. Many Red Devils stars are on international duty, and United's next fixture is still 11 days away, on October 10.
However, plenty of players remain at the club training at Carrington as they prepare for a huge clash with Tottenham in their next outing. United's English stars are all with the club after Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo withdrew from Thomas Tuchel's squad, while Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw were not selected.
Friendly against Ineos-owned Swiss club
The players available to Carrick will feature in a friendly later this week against another club that Jim Ratcliffe is involved with. The Telegraph reports that United will play Swiss side Lausanne-Sport, a club bought by Ineos in 2017.
Lausanne are currently bottom of the Swiss Super League with just one win in their opening nine games and seven goals scored in that time. Both clubs will hope the friendly sparks a change in form, as the Red Devils have also had a very disappointing start to the campaign.
Poor start to the season
Carrick's team has won just one of their first five Premier League games and was dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Brighton, letting slip a two-goal lead to lose 3-2. Their league form has been concerning, with the only victory coming against Ipswich Town, while they have been beaten by Hull City and dropped points against Everton and Fulham.
A loss to Manchester City is no disgrace, but given the match at Old Trafford saw Phil Foden shown a red card after just 23 minutes, it was a frustrating defeat. Frustrations were increased by Erling Haaland's winning goal proving to be incorrectly given by VAR when it should have been ruled out.
Pressure mounting ahead of busy October
Manchester United's early season struggles see them sitting 12th in the Premier League table, with pressure already mounting on Carrick. The Red Devils have an extremely busy October ahead, despite their first match of the month not coming until the Tottenham clash on the 10th.
Before the end of the month, United face Atletico Madrid, Leeds United, Como, Bournemouth and Chelsea.
