Manchester United brought 2024 to a close with a whimper on Monday evening, losing 2-0 to Newcastle United at Old Trafford.

It marked a fourth successive defeat in all competitions and a third Premier League game without a goal. As a result, United have entered 2025 occupying 14th in the Premier League table, seven points above the drop zone.

United will kick-off the New Year on Sunday with a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool. In truth, they could not have asked for a more daunting challenge to start the year.

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With the exception of winning the FA Cup last May, 2024 was not a year many United fans will look back on with fondness, meaning they will be praying 2025 is much more fruitful. With that said, MEN Sport has picked out five aims United should have for this calendar year.

Avoid the unthinkable

Covering United since July 2021, never once did I envision writing about United and the threat of relegation in the same sentence. But with United having lost five of their last six league games, their current form is resemblant of a team destined for the drop.

United currently have a seven-point cushion to 18th-placed Ipswich Town but that gap could be reduced to four by the time Michael Oliver produces the first shrill of his whistle at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. A win for Ipswich and a defeat for United this weekend will have the latter looking over their shoulder even more nervously.

In truth, it is highly unlikely United will be playing Championship football next season, but nothing can be guaranteed in this sport. Their first aim of the New Year has to be to pull clear of immediate danger and avoid the unimaginable scenario becoming fractionally believable.

European glory

Facing Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup in a little over a week's time, United's defence of their FA Cup crown could be over at the first hurdle. United have not won at the Emirates Stadium since 2019 and the Gunners are currently streets ahead of them.

Unless United pull off a third round upset, all that will be left for them to fight for in the pursuit of silverware will be the Europa League. The Reds are six games into their eight-game league phase campaign and currently occupy one of the eight automatic qualification spots for the last-16.

With no Champions League casualties dropping into UEFA's secondary club competition this term, United, should they advance to the knockout stage, will be one of the leading favourites to go the distance this season. Winning the Europa League would secure a European trophy for the first time since 2017 and, perhaps more importantly, Champions League qualification for next season.

A summer clear out

Regardless of what division United are in come the summer, head coach Ruben Amorim and the club's hierarchy most oversee a long overdue clear out. The chances are, United will be preparing for the 2025/26 season as a Premier League club, meaning they should be moulding the squad with the ambition of climbing the table and pushing for the upper echelons of it.

If United's supporters had their way, several members of the first-team squad would be shown the door in this month's window. However, the January window is not the time for a squad rebuild.

The summer ought to see Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen leave upon the expiry of their contracts and the likes of Altay Bayindir, Marcus Rashford, Joshua Zirkzee, Tyrell Malacia, Casemiro, Antony and Luke Shaw all sold. It would make the 2025 summer window one of the busiest Old Trafford has ever seen.

Sign a game-changing striker

If United are to progress under Amorim in the way they want to, they need to sign a world-class goalscorer. Rasmus Hojlund has done a reasonably good job since arriving from Atalanta in August 2023, scoring 23 goals in a team that does not exactly create chances by the bucket load, but United need more.

Viktor Gyokeres is the obvious choice for United to swoop for given the success he had with Amorim at Sporting. He knows his system and he knows where the net is.

However, the Swede is going to command a hefty-sized price tag. But if United want a guaranteed source of goals, they are going to have to spend big - and Ineos will know that.

Turn Old Trafford back into a fortress

If any club wants to experience regular success, their home form has to be the bedrock of their ambitions. United played 25 games at Old Trafford across all competitions in 2024 and won 13 of them, losing seven.

If United are serious about becoming top four contenders again, they have got to rectify their home form. There have been too many instances where they have been humiliated on home soil over the last 12 months and Old Trafford must become a fortress again.

To Erik ten Hag's credit, he rolled back the years with United's home form in 2022/23, overseeing just two home defeats in all competitions. Amorim needs to try and get standards back to a similar level.