As Manchester United attempt to pick up the pieces from a shocker against Istanbul Basaksehir, so Everton are preparing to pick them apart.
Before United travelled to Istanbul, a glance at their previous 10 away results gave the impression that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had produced a miracle of a team.
Teams typically achieve their better results with the benefits of home comfort, so to string together 10 successive wins on the road looked like a striking achievement.
As it happens, the Old Trafford performances have been frequently humdrum and at times wretched (W4 D3 L3 in their last 10 home games), and there are compelling reasons for the away record being not quite all that, either.
And after a calamitous showing in Europe, it is worth looking at quite how this underwhelming United side managed their 10-game streak, and why Everton will fancy inflicting another blow on the Red Devils.
Seagulls and Eagles United away record may have been a Premier League red herring
An eye-catching victory over Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain took United to double figures on their winning away run, but the class of opposition that night was not reflected across the 10-game span.
Solskjaer s men scored three wins over Brighton and Hove Albion, one against Luton Town, and their others came in clashes with Newcastle United, Leicester City, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and a relegation-bound Norwich City.
It was a free-falling Leicester that United beat at the end of last season to snag a place in the Champions League at the expense of their hosts, rather than a side playing with the verve of this term s revitalised Foxes.
Add into the equation an overseas defeat to Sevilla midway through the run, albeit on neutral ground in the Europa League semi-finals, and the record is somewhat less wowing. There was a bad Wembley loss to Chelsea too in the FA Cup semi-finals.
However, 27 goals scored and five goals conceded in those 10 victories point to something, and fast breaks away from home have become a real weapon.
In the six Premier League wins during that run of away successes, United scored 17 goals, with three of those goals coming from 10 fast breaks.
From their two Premier League away games this season alone, United have scored twice from five fast breaks, yet turning defence into attack at pace is something United only reliably perform on the road.
Across the nine Premier League fixtures in their last 10 home games, United have scored 15 times but have only had two fast breaks, and they failed to score from either.
They have netted seven goals from 17 shots on target in two Premier League away trips this season, compared to two goals from 12 shots on target in four home games.
An unhappy hunting ground
Saturday s fixture is evocative of some tough days and dark nights for United, of big moments for the likes of Everton s Duncan Ferguson and Marouane Fellaini.
Since the beginning of 2010, Everton have won five times at home against United in the Premier League, drawing three and losing three.
A 4-0 trouncing by Everton at Goodison Park in April 2019 was a jarring first experience of the fixture as a manager for Solskjaer, who was prompted to apologise to supporters and promise a clear-out of his squad.
In that game, United had only one shot on target from seven attempts and only touched the ball 12 times in the Everton penalty area, according to Opta data.
In short, they barely laid a glove on Everton, but a pair of 1-1 draws at Old Trafford and Goodison since then have suggested these teams are perhaps more closely matched.
Everton sit fourth this season, with 13 points from seven games, but have lost two in a row, while United enter the latest round of games with a sorry seven points from six outings.
Carlo Ancelotti will not read much into the league table at this stage.
The Italian will nevertheless be wary of visitors who have made a habit of defying expected goals (xG) and expected goals against (xGA) numbers when travelling in recent times.
United s 27-5 goals for-and-against aggregate in streaking to those 10 straight away wins saw them out-perform xG of 19.4 and xGA of 9.5.
Turkey followed quickly by Toffees
United s turnaround between playing in Istanbul on Wednesday evening to taking on Everton on Saturday is such that players may find themselves sapped of energy.
Solskjaer has the resources to change up his starting XI, having begun in Turkey with the likes of David de Gea, Paul Pogba, Fred and Scott McTominay among his substitutes.
But there is no disguising the strain that midweek Champions League trips can put on teams with weekend Premier League commitments.
It becomes a particular strain when domestic league games follow just three days after away trips in Europe.
Since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, there have been 17 previous occurrences of such turnarounds, with a mixed bag of eight wins, six defeats and three draws recorded by those sides with such a short space between matches.
United themselves have had awkward returns to action after Champions League games in that time, with wins over Palace and Brighton countered by a home defeat to Huddersfield Town and a draw with Wolves at Old Trafford.
Last season they were used to quick turnarounds after Thursday night Europa League duty, losing at Newcastle and drawing with Aston Villa following continental commitments but beating Norwich and Watford, both of whom went on to be relegated.
What might be most concerning is the fact Saturday s game kicks off at 12:30pm GMT.
Only on two occasions since the start of 2017-18 have English teams faced lunchtime Saturday games after returning from Wednesday evening Champions League activity, and it has been Tottenham on each occasion, beaten at home on their return to action by Manchester City and Leicester City.
