Manchester United's season is a week old and already on fire. A newly-promoted Hull City side went to Old Trafford and left with a 2-0 win, the kind of result that gets managers using words like 'bitterly disappointed' in press conferences. Carrick didn't hide from it. Now Ipswich Town is next up, and this fixture just became something nobody expected on the schedule: a referendum.
Ipswich arrives as the away side against a club that's supposed to be miles ahead of them in class, budget, and expectation. That gap is exactly why United has no excuse if this goes wrong twice in a row. One bad result against a promoted club is a bad night. Two in a row against promoted clubs is a pattern, and patterns get managers fired.
So which version of Manchester United shows up at Old Trafford? The one that steadies itself and turns the page, or the one that's still spiraling from Hull? Ipswich just has to survive being in the room while United tries to figure that out. Time to call it: does Manchester United get the win here, or does Ipswich turn a bad week into a crisis?