Although the Premier League fixture list will not be released until Thursday morning, Manchester United's cup tournament campaigns have already been announced.
Finishing in the top four of the Premier League is without a doubt Manchester United and Erik ten Hag's top priority for next season. This objective will be followed closely by the desire to win a trophy in one of the club's three cup competitions — the Emirates FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, and the Europa League.
These cup events are frequently contested at the same time, but due to the peculiar scheduling of the 2022 World Cup being in winter, some of these customary dates have been changed.
The Carabao Cup
The Carabao Cup, commonly known as the EFL Cup, will begin on 8 August, however Manchester United will not enter until the third round, which is held on 8/9 November due to European obligations.
Due to the need to fit in many more Premier League fixtures ahead of the World Cup, Manchester United's opening round of the Carabao Cup takes place just one week before all domestic football ceases to make way for Qatar 2022.
Manchester United last won the Carabao Cup, then known as the EFL Cup, in February 2017 under Wayne Rooney's captaincy. (Alamy)
If United advances past the first round, the fourth round will be held on December 20/21, just days after the World Cup final.
The competition's semi-finals will still be contested over two legs, with the final taking place at Wembley in late February.
Carabao Cup fixture list:
Third round: November 8/9
Fourth round: December 20/21.
Quarter-finals: January 10/11
Semi-finals: January 25/February 1.
FA Cup final: February 26
Manchester United, like the Carabao Cup, will not enter this season's FA Cup tournament until the third round, which takes place on 7 January — this date is relatively unaffected, as the FA Cup third round generally begins in the new year.
What's interesting is that this year's FA Cup final is on June 3rd, which is substantially later than normal.
The semi-finals take place on 22 April, which means that whichever two teams make it to the final will have a long wait to compete for England's most historic prize.
The fifth round of the competition will take place during the week, with the other rounds taking place on weekends.
Full FA Cup schedule:
Third round: January 7th
Fourth round: January 28th
Fifth round: March 1st
Quarter-finals: March 18
Semi-finals: April 22nd
The deadline is June 3rd.
The Europa League
Most fans dislike the Europa League; nonetheless, due to the club's sixth-place performance in the Premier League previous season, Manchester United will once again compete in the competition they won in 2017.
The Europa League, which is often viewed as a burden due to the nature of the competition being held on Thursday evenings and subsequent domestic fixtures having to be held the following Sunday/Monday, provides an alternative path to Champions League football should a club fail to qualify via their domestic league position.
The Europa League group stage draw will take place on August 26th.This is because other teams must compete in qualifying rounds prior to the group stage in order to compete in this season's competition.
Manchester United won the Europa League for the first time in 2017, but have yet to win it again, despite reaching the final in 2021. (Alamy)
Due to World Cup scheduling, the group stage will end in early November this season, rather than the typical mid-December conclusion.
Full Europa League group stage schedule:
Matchday 1 is on September 8th.
Matchday 2: September 15
Matchday 3 is on October 6th.
Matchday 4: October 13
Matchday 5: October 27
Matchday 6: November 3rd
Manchester United will reach the knockout stage of the competition if they qualify for it, which, barring extremely unusual circumstances, is very likely.
Clubs that finish first in their respective group will automatically advance to the round of 16, while clubs that finish second in their respective group will compete in a play-off round alongside clubs that dropped into the competition after finishing third in their Champions League group.
Full Europa League knockout stage schedule:
Playoffs are scheduled for February 16 and 23.
Round of 16: March 9 & 16 Quarter-finals: April 13 & 20
Semi-finals will be held on May 11 and 18.
The deadline is May 31.
Erik ten Hag will be aiming high in all of these tournaments, with one eye on winning a trophy in his debut season with the club.
While winning the Premier League looks unlikely this season, these three cup tournaments present an excellent opportunity for Manchester United to end their 5-year trophy drought after winning the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017.
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