A relatively kind fixture list was supposed to allow Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the chance to ease into this season.
But it hasn't quite turned out that way and now any sympathy from the schedule has well and truly vanished.
Before the end of November, Solskjaer's stuttering side have to play Leicester, Atalanta (twice), Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City, Villarreal, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Daunting at the best of times, but more so in the absence of your two first-choice central defenders.
That's the headache potentially facing Solskjaer, however, after Raphael Varane limped out of France's win over Spain in the final of the UEFA Nations League on Sunday night.