Manchester United beat Luton Town 1-0 in a Premier League match at Old Trafford last Saturday, Nov. 11. Victor Lindelof scored the only goal of the match in the 59th minute. The win took United to the sixth position in the league table with 21 points from 12 matches _ six less than the tally of Manchester City, who have a match in hand.
The points table can be misleading at times
Apparently, it is not a bad position to be in. On paper, United can definitely aim to break into the top-four within the next month or so. However, for people whom have seen them play this season, Manchester United remain a club that is regressing to an extent.
Their season has been one stewn with close victories in matches that could have gone either way. They beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 by scoring two late goals. Then they got the better of Brentford through a brace by Scott McTominay and then registered unimpressive wins by a solitary goal against Fulham and Luton.
All of that is not the stuff elite teams are made of. United looked closer to a mid-table team and a distant second-best against Manchester City.
They fought well against Arsenal, but surrendered meekly to Tottenham Hotspur. With matches against Newcastle United and Liverpool coming up, very few United supporters will be willing to bet for their team in those matches.
Defensive players have bailed Manchester United out repeatedly
Casemiro has scored four goals for United this season, which is the second-highest by any player so far. Then there is McTominay, primarily a holding midfielder, who saw them through against Brentford. Harry Maguire and Lindelof _ both central defenders _ have also scored to win matches for them.
It is quite an appalling stat for United that aside from Rasmus Hojlund, who has scored five goals in UEFA Champions League but none in Premier League, the other United forwards, Marcus Rashford, Antony, Anthony Martial and Alejandro Garnacho have a combined total of two goals between them in the season so far.
United have played in 18 matches already and that is a very disturbing piece of statistics, to say the least. Unless their performance improves drastically, it is difficult to see how Manchester United are going to have a decent, much less successful, season. However, if their form is anything to go by, it remains an arduous task for them.
