December is looking like it will be a tough month for Manchester United.

They face Arsenal (2nd), CSKA Moscow (5th) and Manchester City (8th) within the space of eight days before a trip to West Brom on the 17th.

Leicester City (23rd), Burnley (26th) and Southampton (30th) then make up the Red Devils' remaining three Premier League fixtures and will all test their title credentials.

Jose Mourinho certainly isn't happy about United's busy Christmas schedule and he recently claimed favouritism has been shown towards their rivals, namely Arsenal.

"For example, here's another theme. And you probably have to agree with me," he said last week. "Do you think it is possible for Arsenal to play 22nd of December and 28th of December?

"Do you think it is possible? You know, I wish them a Happy Christmas because they are going to have a Christmas while others they play 23-26."

United face Leicester on the 23rd and Burnley on Christmas Eve, giving them very little time in between to recover and prepare.

It's set to be a frantic couple of days and according to The Sun, Mourinho has made things even worse by dropping a bombshell on his staff.

Mourinho has never been a fan of Christmas and he's reportedly decided to hold a training session at 5pm on Christmas Day.

Worse still, the Portuguese manager plans to have it at Old Trafford, rather than Carrington, which requires more workers than usual.

A training session at Carrington only needs 20 members of staff, whereas a training session at the Theatre of Dreams requires nearer 70 to take care of security and the pitch.

It means a lot of people will have to abandon Christmas plans with their families, which has predictably caused an uproar.

Quite why Mourinho wants to train at Old Trafford rather than Carrington is unknown, but no doubt the players won't be overly pleased about it either.

If it means they get maximum points against Burnley on Boxing Day, though, it will be time well spent.

United are currently eight points behind league leaders Man City and need a positive festive period in order to keep up.

But City have an easier schedule than their city rivals - they play on the 23rd and 27th - meaning the pressure is all on United.