Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of Manchester United's trip to bottom-of-the-table Watford. United are actually riding the Premier League's second-longest unbeaten streak and would move to within a point of the Champions League places with a win, but their form against teams in the lower half of the division has been an issue this season. Team news is coming up next...

The key message here - "we're getting better." Pogba described as "one of our best players when he's in form" and a "good character".

Victory would lift United into fifth, at least for a couple of hours, and they would be just one point behind Chelsea, who play later today against Tottenham Hotspur. United's next four league opponents after this match sit ninth, 10th, 11th and 19th, so this would look like a run of winnable fixtures they should see as a springboard to get into the top four, but it's games like these where Solskjaer's team have often come unstuck. Brilliant against the big boys - as they demonstrated in beating Manchester City so well in their last away game - they must improve in the matches they are expected to win.

Despite Watford's struggles, Foster has kept twice as many clean sheets as David De Gea in the league this season.

Rashford has 10 goals and four assists in his last 11 matches for the Red Devils in all competitions. His 14 goals overall represent the most he's ever scored for the club in a single season.

Marcus Rashford has scored 10 Premier League goals this season - that’s more than Watford.

Paul Pogba is finally back for United, then. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted this week that then Frenchman won’t be sold in January, but it has gotten to the stage where you easily forget that he’s a United player and his absence is hardly noticed anymore. Being back in the squad is clearly a big step in his comeback, but if the club wanted to sell him under then radar to try and save face, they’ll likely never have a better opportunity. It's debateable whether or not he would get in the team if he was fully fit.

Watford are in a horrible mess. Unless they win by six goals or more, they'll be bottom at Christmas and no team in the Premier League era has stayed up after having so few points after 17 games. They can't even take comfort from being at home today as they're without a win in their last 12 league games at Vicarage Road.

United have had a lot of joy against Watford, winning 14 of the last 15 league games between the pair and scoring some nice goals along the way.

Just four players who started in the Red Devils team which brushed aside Colchester United in midweek do so here; Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford. The headline news is that Paul Pogba, who has not featured since September, is among the substitutes. Fred and Scott McTominay, who have been playing well in recent weeks, start ahead of him in central midfield.

MANCHESTER UNITED: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, McTominay, Fred, James, Lingard, Rashford, Martial. Subs: Romero, Young, Matic, Pogba, Pereira, Mata, Greenwood.

Nigel Pearson names the same starting line-up as at Anfield last weekend, but Roberto Pereyra is fit enough to make the bench. Ex-United man Ben Foster is in goal, while Troy Deeney leads the line.

WATFORD: Foster, Mariappa, Kabasele, Cathcart, Femenia, Capoue, Doucoure, Hughes, Sarr, Deluofeu, Deeney. Subs: Gomes, Dawson, Masina, Chalobah, Pereyra, Gray, Success.