Manchester United's Hunt For A Red October

Manchester United rose to the top of the Barclays Premier League table last weekend but nobody was getting carried away with the lofty position as the clocks are still to go back before winter.

"There’s a long way to go," said skipper Wayne Rooney. "It’s still early days and we have to keep working hard to make sure we can stay there or finish there at the end of the season."

A club so well versed in mounting title challenges appreciates no premature conclusions can be drawn by looking at the standings at this early stage. Some pundits were quick to anoint Manchester City as champions after their lightning start, even though many of them had earlier predicted they could be the team to drop out of the top four, and it would be folly to write Chelsea off despite their below-par form.

The fact is the Premier League is an unforgiving division with pitfalls at every turn. Nothing should be taken for granted – it wasn't in Sir Alex Ferguson's time, even when the Reds were clearly the leading side in the country, as he was at pains to point out in his new book 'Leading'. In Louis van Gaal, the club has a manager who also has the nous and experience to appreciate that, while September was a spectacular month domestically – with three goals scored in each of the four wins – stiffer tasks lie on the horizon.

October could prove to be a critical month in terms of sustaining a bid for the title. As already suggested, the trophies will certainly not be handed out before the kids are 'trick or treating' but, if United can emerge largely unscathed from a taxing schedule, there will be justifiable confidence in being able to go the distance.

It starts with a real test at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, scene of van Gaal's first away triumph as Reds boss, and a key indicator of any championship pretensions. The Gunners blew in-form Leicester City away last weekend and, in Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott, have two players who have looked in top gear, even in light of the shock reverse to Olympiacos in midweek. Swansea City, United's own bogey team at present, were the only other victors in the league at the north London ground last term and the FA Cup holders are clearly a top side with their own designs on lifting the title.

Another tough trip follows, to Everton, where United produced a performance out of keeping with much of van Gaal's debut campaign. The Reds were particularly stout defensively after the 5-3 reverse to Leicester City in September last year but conceded three times without reply on Merseyside on a dismal afternoon. The Toffees have made a decent start and will be just as highly charged for the occasion again.

The one home league game in the month comes against Manchester City and the derby needs no additional hyperbole. City will be out to justify their current tag as the bookmakers' odds-on favourites for the Premier League and avenge last season's 4-2 defeat at Old Trafford. Finally, another game on the road sees United back in London to face Crystal Palace. Alan Pardew has worked wonders with the Eagles: their away record since his appointment is worthy of title contenders, and their counter-attacking tactics in front of the noisy Selhurst Park supporters mark this out as another real examination.

By Halloween, van Gaal's men will have played 11 times in the Premier League and we will have a clearer picture of where the team stands in terms of managing a tilt at the title. Many people in the media appear to be unwilling to accept the notion that United are capable of remaining at the top of the tree, but answering all the questions that will be posed this month in a positive fashion could change those opinions.