Manchester United sit 17th in the Premier League table after nine matches, raising warnings from former manager Erik ten Hag about a potential drop out of the top flight.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge left the club with only seven points from their opening nine league fixtures. According to Africasoccer, that result leaves United ahead of 18th-place Crystal Palace solely on goal difference. Michael Carrick’s side is winless across their last nine matches in all competitions, marking their longest such drought since 1984, as reported by Yahoo.
Ten Hag addressed the club’s trajectory in an interview with ESPN. In the Premier League it’s certainly possible, because all the teams are simply strong,
said Ten Hag.
They’re all strong squads, all good managers. And if you end up on the wrong side once and you really get into that vicious circle — yes, then it can become very, very difficult.
Ten Hag will take charge of Dutch club FC Twente from the 2026-2027 season.
The sequence includes a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth and a 4-1 Champions League loss at Como alongside the Stamford Bridge reverse. Across all competitions, across their past nine fixtures, United have suffered six defeats alongside three stalemates.
Not since November 1986 have they occupied a relegation spot after nine or more matches, a period when they managed merely one point across Sir Alex Ferguson’s opening two fixtures at the helm following the sacking of Ron Atkinson.
For the upcoming fixture against Villa, United must cope without the suspended Lisandro Martinez following his dismissal at Chelsea—a sending-off that former World Cup final official Darren Cann labelled as “inexplicable” during a broadcast on BBC Sport. Gary Neville described the club’s situation as really worrying
after the Chelsea defeat, saying the team appeared stuck in a rut.
Addressing the psychological hurdle confronting his players, Carrick stressed that securing wins right away is paramount. We’ve got to keep moving forward and winning games, simple as that,
remarked Michael Carrick with his characteristic composure, following their 2-0 loss to Chelsea on Saturday.
Michael Carrick is still expected to be in charge when United play in the Champions League on Tuesday. They then return to Premier League action against Aston Villa on Sunday. Having taken the helm at Manchester United in 2022, Ten Hag steered the team to League Cup and FA Cup triumphs prior to his departure in 2024, and he highlighted the strides the club achieved throughout his time in charge.
Before we arrived, the club had gone six years without winning a trophy. Look where they are now,
Erik ten Hag
Should they suffer relegation, the club’s massive television revenue share means the standard parachute payments given to other sides would fall woefully short of covering their losses. In May, respected football finance blogger Paul Quinn, known as The Esk, calculated that Tottenham’s absolute revenue loss
would be between £197m-£235m if they did go down.
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