A trip to the side sitting bottom of the table would ordinarily be just what the doctor ordered after a chastening FA Cup defeat.
The problem for Manchester United is this isn’t any other season, and they’re not coming up against your usual basement dwellers.
Friday’s fourth round exit encapsulated everything that has been wrong with United’s campaign so far. Wasted chances and star players underperforming once again proved to be their downfall as a dismal season hit yet another new low against Middlesbrough.
Barring some kind of miracle in the Champions League, United’s hopes of lifting any silverware this season are now all gone, and all that really remains to salvage is a top-four finish – and given how tight the race is there, they can barely afford any more slip-ups this season.
For a side boasting the attacking talents of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford to pass up some of the opportunities they were presented with on Friday night is unforgivable, and interim boss Ralf Rangnick knows that.
"We gave away too many chances, especially in the first half," said Rangnick, reflecting on United's failure to convert their chances.
"We should and could have easily been up 3-0 after 45 minutes and even in the second half we missed some great opportunities, even after they scored their goal that shouldn't have stood.
"But Bruno's chance was almost like a penalty as well, so we have to blame ourselves for giving away and wasting too many opportunities in the game.”
And he wasn’t the only one to single out that problem, with former United skipper Roy Keane also concerned at how his old side had conspired to lose a game which they had dominated for large parts.
"One of his [Rangnick's] concerns will be over the last few home games they've only scored one goal and obviously just one tonight," Keane told ITV Sport.
"I was talking about Man United finding a way to win the game, but what they did was they found a way to lose the game and that's not a good sign."
So when a side is struggling to find the back of the net, coming up against the league’s bottom side would surely help them rediscover their rhythm – only, it’s never that easy.
A quick glance at the Premier League table shows just how difficult things could be for United against Burnley on Tuesday – only seven teams have conceded fewer goals than Sean Dyche’s side this season, and rather worryingly for United, they aren’t one of them.
All the clichés you perhaps associate with Burnley have perhaps been lacking somewhat this season, with the Clarets still only having one win to their name – even so, they have lost just two games at Turf Moor, and not since September, while they haven’t conceded in their last three home league outings.
Rangnick and Keane’s warnings will be ringing in United’s players’ ears, particularly as their usual saviour faces his toughest period since returning to Old Trafford.
Ronaldo is currently in his longest drought of the season so far, having gone four games without a goal, and Friday’s cup defeat was the perfect demonstration of where United lie when they don’t have their talisman to bail them out, as he has done on numerous occasions this season.
If, as Keane suggested, they found a way to lose on Friday, it’s imperative they find a way to win tomorrow at Turf Moor. Burnley will certainly not make it easy for them, and they can’t afford to be as profligate as they were against Middlesbrough if they’re to rescue anything from this season.
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