Image source, Getty ImagesManchester United’s seven points are their joint-fewest after six games of a Premier League season (W2 D1 L3 – same record in both 2013-14 and 2020-21).
Only in 2007-08 (4) have they scored fewer goals in their first six Premier League games than they have this term (5).
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Have your say on United’s performance, external
What did you make of Tottenham’s display?, external
Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies
Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.
For week six, he takes on Maximo Park singer Paul Smith, whose latest album, Stream Of Life, is out on Friday.
Man Utd host Tottenham at 16:30 on Sunday.
Sutton's prediction: 2-1
My first thought was that I fancy Manchester United to win this but, the more I think about it, the less likely that seems.
United made heavy weather of their Europa League draw with FC Twente on Wednesday, with a performance that was very uninspiring.
Mind you, we need to see more from Spurs in the final third too, so I am going to stick with my instincts and go for a United win. Let me explain why.
In my opinion, United cannot beat Spurs by going toe-to-toe with them, but there is an argument that Tottenham's playing style will suit Erik ten Hag, because it is in these sort of games where Ten Hag's counter-attack football works best.
I am not exactly confident they will beat Spurs though.
What worries me most about tipping United is what happens in the centre of the park. Are United going to rely on Christian Eriksen again, against his former club. A great player, but does he have the legs?
Paul's prediction: You could easily make an argument for both teams but Spurs are away so it will be more difficult for them, because Old Trafford does make a difference.
Both teams will think they can win it, so it would be crazy for me to go for another 2-2 draw... and yet I feel like someone will be 2-1 up going into the last 10 minutes or something and then the other team will get that final big chance to score. So I am going to go for that draw! 2-2.
Image source, Getty ImagesTottenham’s Son Heung-min has created more chances from open play than any other player in the Premier League this season (13).
He has also had a hand in five goals in his past seven league appearances against Manchester United, scoring four and assisting one.
Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesManchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes has been a subdued force around opposition penalty areas so far this season.
The Portuguese playmaker is yet to score and managed a single assist - at Southampton - in five Premier League appearances.
It is one of the reasons why United have struggled to turn opportunities into goals.
Manager Erik ten Hag is convinced Fernandes will soon be back to his best.
"He has proved so many years in the Premier League that he can create many chances," said Ten Hag.
"I am convinced this season he will do the same, he will respond and find his form. He is already creating chances but 100% he will make final passes and score goals. It’s just a matter of time."
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel says he would waste time "on purpose" when he came up against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.
Time-wasting and the 'dark arts' of football have been hotly debated this week following the feisty 2-2 draw between title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.
Discussing the topic on the Planet Premier League podcast, Friedel recalled how he used these tactics against one manager in particular.
"A long time ago, Sir Alex Ferguson used to get so annoyed," said Friedel, who faced the Red Devils 43 times in his career.
"I was playing for Liverpool at the time when Michael Owen did that two-footed challenge against [Peter] Schmeichel and got sent off and we were drawing in the game.
"I wasted so much time and we ended up drawing 1-1, but that was back in 1998. So, every other time I returned to Old Trafford, Sir Alex had in his head, no matter what team I was playing for, what the game was, what the score was, I was wasting time.
"So then just on purpose to wind the fans up, I did just [waste time] when I didn't even need to."
Image source, Getty ImagesThere has been a lot of conversation this week about "dark arts" in football following the draw between Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.
Realistically, everyone who has watched football for longer than one game has seen things they would perceive as "dark arts"; whether it is a player always going down winning free-kicks to take the sting out of the game, kicking the ball into row Z when there was no multi-ball system or time-wasting on goal-kicks.
These are things we see all the time but our perception of it is dependent on the context of a game. You always see some version of it somewhere, and you hope your team would be doing the same thing if in the same situation - because why should you do something that would benefit the opposition you are against?
It is the same as going down a bit more easily to win penalties - some people will say "this guy is a cheat", but then on the other side of their mouth, if it is something that could benefit them, they say "he has tried too hard to stay up, he needed to go down there".
You can have rulings, Ifab can get involved to change this and that, but there will always be a way to push the rules to their limits.
What we saw with Arsenal in that game, where David Raya sat down to get some treatment while the teams gathered, we have seen those moments before. It is not just new to Arsenal - other teams do it.
It is always based on certain moments. You do get more frustrated if it happens against you, but when you need to do it, you encourage people to do it. That is one of the beauties of football - the way you see things is always going to be down to perception, context and just whether you think it is benefiting you or not.
Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Phil Cartwright
Manager Erik ten Hag is on borrowed time at Manchester United, who are actively looking at candidates to replace him. (Teamtalk), external
Former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would "say yes every day of the week" if asked to return to Old Trafford as manager. (ESPN), external
Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter
When a manager holds his pre-match press conference 18 hours after his last one finished, three days before his team is due to play again, it is sometimes difficult to know whether to look back on what has gone, or forward to what is to come.
I went for the former.
Erik ten Hag has a key game looming against Tottenham on Sunday. After disappointing draws against Crystal Palace - when Manchester United dominated but could not score - and last night against FC Twente - when they dominated but didn't score enough - it was pertinent to ask what the problem was.
I have been told Ten Hag prefers blunt questions because he finds them easier to deal with.
He also likes blunt answers.
"Not scoring goals enough, that is the problem," he said.
"It’s the key area. We have to score more goals as a team."
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game at home against Tottenham (16:30 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Ten Hag is not expecting any injured players to return for the visit of Spurs and anticipates having the same squad to choose from as he did against FC Twente in the Europa League on Thursday.
When asked about Christian Eriksen's comments that Twente "wanted it more" in the 1-1 draw, he said: "I think every team has this in a season when you play 60 games. There will be games where you are not happy with the performance. The team who can manage this the most will be most successful. We are ambitious and always demand we are hungrier."
Ten Hag sees missing chances as being key during recent poor results: "Not scoring goals, not scoring goals enough. That is the problem, the key area to score more goals as a team, we have players across the team who have the ability to score, that is clear, you see all the opportunities we are creating. We are not scoring enough."
On how to rectify this, Ten Hag said: "You always work into a season to build in structures in defending, structures in possession, you start in the build-up. Across almost all the games we have more possession than the opponent and then it is about what you are doing. We bring the ball into the final third, even the box, a lot but now we have to take more advantage of it."
Ten Hag believes his side are still a work in progress: "I think you have to assess the situation, still we are working, we are in progress. We have to sign players but we made a choice to sign very young players like last year [Rasmus] Hojlund, like this year [Joshua] Zirkzee, Leny Yoro. Players we believe in them for this moment and also for the future and we have to build with them."
Asked if fans have to be patient, he said: "You have also to be fair, we won two trophies in the last two seasons and we are ambitious. We want to win another one and be as high as possible and go in every game for winning the game, it doesn't matter who the opponent is."
Asked if he believes Zirkzee can become a prolific goalscorer for United, Ten Hag said: "Yes, I do. He is young, we see his capabilities. He is a very good link-up player, he's creative, he's creating chances. But, to be fair, also he has absolutely his moments towards the goal of the opposition. In that area he can definitely improve but we knew that beforehand. He has some very good attributes and also some attributes he has to improve and there he needs our support how to improve."
On what he expects from Spurs: "I think it will be a very intensive game. It is always against Tottenham and it is our style as well so I think it is going to be a very dynamic, attractive game."
Tottenham's visit to Old Trafford on Sunday at least presents opposition who have endured a similarly underwhelming start to the season, while next Thursday's trip to Porto pits Manchester United against a side who surprisingly lost their Europa League opener to Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt.
After that is a very difficult trip to Aston Villa when United must look to avoid entering a second international break in a row with mutterings around Ten Hag and his management.
On the plus side, United's defence, which looked so shaky last season, has improved. Their goals-per-game conceded rate is below one, which is better than in either of their two previous seasons under Ten Hag, and that is despite conceding three in that home defeat by Liverpool on 1 September.
Ten Hag continues to state his team are improving and any issues are short-term concerns. But while he doesn't tend to talk about it, last season's eighth place has not been forgotten.
He still has time on his side but time, as with any manager, can soon start to drift away if results and consistency remain elusive.
"We are very ambitious and when you have ambition, you have to perform," Ten Hag said after Wednesday's draw with FC Twente. "Especially today, in the second half, we were too complacent. We didn't bring it over the line and as a team, you have to do this."
Image source, Getty ImagesThere are "some flickers of hope" for Manchester United, but they do not have a "guarantee of goals" in the team says reporter Laurie Whitwell from The Athletic.
Having taken the lead, United's first Europa League game of the season ultimately ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw with FC Twente.
It was another match in which Erik ten Hag's side had struggled to convert their chances and failed to hold a lead.
"FC Twente are the lowest ranked team, in terms of the coefficient, that they will face at Old Trafford in the Europa League so it is another result that continues this awkward start of the season for Manchester United," Whitwell told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"There are signs of hope, they are creating good chances.
"They’ve got a good collection of young players but they just don’t have that guarantee of goals in the team, so you’re kind of hoping, rather than expecting them to produce these moments and go on a winning run.
"There are some flickers of hope but again, if it continues for too long, then the pressure will become too much I think."
Boss Ten Hag has talked about players playing "too much" as a factor in his side's inconsistency.
Whitwell added: "The Eredivisie has fewer teams in it and the pace of that league is less than the Premier League. Everyone comments on how intense the Premier League is when they join it, so you can't let any game slip and every opposition is up for it.
"But United have a big squad and have spent a lot money to give it that strength in depth so that argument only has so much weight.
"There is certainly a breaking point for the amount of games players are going to be asked to play because there are so many competitions. But United, a team of that scale and quality should be beating FC Twente."
Tom Gayle
BBC Radio 5 Live reporter at Old Trafford
Image source, Getty ImagesIrrespective of the result it was always going to be a memorable night for Erik ten Hag, welcoming the team he supported, played for, and was assistant manager when FC Twente lifted their only league title to date in 2010.
Pre-match the Dutchman appeared to suggest victory was a foregone conclusion saying: "I would have preferred to play against someone else. It is not nice to hurt something you love.”
Instead of hurt, it was ecstasy which consumed visiting players, staff and fans at the full-time whistle, as they celebrated their point like a win. Sights of people dropping to their knees, hugs all around, questionable dance moves, and group photos in front of their travelling supporters.
With back-to-back away trips coming up next in this competition, starting with Porto, before heading to Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce, there needs to be a significant improvement in performance from Ten Hag’s side for Manchester United to be taken seriously as legitimate contenders for the Europa League crown.
Simon Stone at Old Trafford
Chief football news reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesThere was something worryingly familiar about Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag after Wednesday's game against FC Twente.
There was a stern look on his face as he walked round Old Trafford applauding the fans who remained following the 1-1 draw against spirited, but limited, opposition.
There was a defence of his players to the media, even though he agreed with goalscorer Christian Eriksen that his old club had "wanted it more".
Ten Hag denied it but the same claims have been made at periods throughout his tenure. It hints at a mental issue that is simply not being solved.
When Ineos opted to stick with Ten Hag in the aftermath of last season's eighth-placed finish, they did so largely because it was felt the structures were not in place that would allow the former Ajax boss to succeed.
The structures are now there but there is no obvious change.
It is far too early for Ten Hag to be under real pressure. But, to coin a phrase he likes to use, he needs to step up.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe asked for your thoughts after Wednesday's Europa League game between Manchester United and Twente.
Here are some of your comments:
Lexy: United players showed no respect to their opponents and treated the game like a training ground occasion! They gave the ball away far too many times trying the difficult pass, particularly in dangerous areas. Slow build-up play and they need a number nine urgently!
Jim: United are not at the races at the moment. Probably time is needed to let new players settle in. Christian Eriksen is a decent player but will not take them back to where they need to be and the crucial problem at the moment is the same as last season - they can't score goals from decent build-up. The main culprit is Bruno Fernandes. He has skill but is wasteful - and Erik ten Hag plays him!
Peter: In patches, we looked better but overall we were lacking ideas and finishing power again. I think the creative play is missing and unfortunately this is where the manager must take responsibility. I'm not convinced that he's got what we need. I'd give him up until the end of this year to get some positive results. After all he's had the money .
Alastair: At least Noussair Mazraoui must now be worth twice what we paid Bayern Munich.
Joe: In the 88th minute of tonight's game, I had a sudden dawning realisation, and it was this. I didn't care if we won. I had no excitement about whether we would score a winning goal. And in the 47 years that I've watched my club I never felt like that. The past three years has done this to me.
Mark: Not good enough. We can’t finish off any chances and overall not enough passion or hunger to go finish off the game. However, still loads more games to go but if we are going to do anything well this season, we need to start scoring goals.
Manchester United want to free up space in midfield and could let Denmark's Christian Eriksen and Brazil's Casemiro, both 32, leave in January. (Teamtalk), external
United also remain interested in Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite and will make another attempt to sign the 22-year-old England-capped defender in 2025. (HITC), external
Meanwhile, back in 2020, Manchester United offered 100m euros (£83.5m) to Barcelona for Spain forward Ansu Fati, who is now 21 and spent last season on loan with Brighton. (Athletic - subsription required), external
Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column
