A Complete Breakdown Of Manchester United's 17 Game Premier League Season

If you are a Manchester United supporter then the following article may be a tough read, I'll just warn you now.

We are 17 games into the 2018/19 Premier League campaign and this is officially United's worst start to a Premier League season ever. Mourinho's side are currently 19 points behind leaders Liverpool and are a massive 11 points off fourth place in the standings - a damning statistic if i've ever seen one.

Following their 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, the club have the fifth worst defence in the Premier League, and have conceded more goals this season (29) than the entire of last season (28).

And it could have been so much worse.

Liverpool's 36 goal attempts is the most by any team in a Premier League game this season. The previous best, was recorded by Manchester City, creating 32 attempts on goal against Huddersfield.

It is their worst points haul in the top-flight at this stage since 1990-91 and don't United fans know it.

To rub salt into the wounds, their biggest rivals Liverpool currently hold their biggest lead over United after the first 17 games of an English top-flight season. Again, that's 19 points...six wins and a draw.

So what's going wrong at Old Trafford? Of course, a leaky defence is a clear issue but the lack of goals from Romelu Lukaku is highly concerning.

Lukaku touched the ball just 20 times at Anfield on Sunday. To put that into perspective, he has never had fewer touches in a Premier League game previously.

Is this a lack of service or a complete lack of attacking threat from the forward?

Then you've got the defensive aspect of things. Gary Neville described it perfectly: "The defence is like Spaghetti Bolognese...all over the place."

You can see why Mourinho was insistent on bringing in a centre-back in the summer transfer window. What would have happened if the board granted his requests will never be answered, but the stats speak for themselves.

The fact that Liverpool were given 36 attempts on goal throughout the game is simply not good enough for a side with such pedigree and history.

What do Jose Mourinho and Manchester United need to do to get back on track?

Let us know in the comments below.

Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Jose Mourinho, Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Romelu Lukaku, Fails

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_