Erik ten Hag has discovered his most important Manchester United undroppable

Aside from the underwhelming 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad in the Europa League, the recent period has been one of improvement and encouragement for Manchester United.

Since being embarrassed by Brentford, losing 4-0 in the sweltering west London heat on August 13, United have played four Premier League matches and won all four. It has marked their first run of four consecutive league victories since April 2021, which tells you just how encouraging this recent revival has been.

It is somewhat unfortunate, therefore, that United have seen their last two league matches ahead of the international break postponed, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. After seeing Sunday's trip to Crystal Palace called off as a mark of respect, this coming Sunday's showdown with Leeds United at Old Trafford has also been postponed, this time because of insufficient policing being available.

READ MORE: Phase two of United squad rebuild could see more outs than ins

These are extraordinary times we are currently living in and it cannot be helped, but it has robbed United of the chance to try and maintain their recent momentum, even though Thursday's trip to Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League will go ahead as planned. Since the defeat to Brentford, United have been on an upward curve, beating Liverpool, Southampton, Leicester City and Arsenal to climb to within three points of the top of the table.

The platform for this revival was provided by the performance and victory over Liverpool. After being humbled by Brentford nine days earlier, resulting in the players being forced to report to Carrington less than 24 hours later on a scheduled day off, Ten Hag made the decision to make four changes for the visit of the Merseysiders.

He