From humiliation at Anfield to drubbing against City: Manchester United’s heaviest defeats in Premier League

It has been a harrowing start to the Premier League campaign for Manchester United this season. The Red Devils have had to suffer three defeats in the first five matches of a Premier League season for the first time since 1989-90. Having collected six points from five games, Erik ten Hag’s men are currently languishing at the 13th spot in the Premier League standings. In their last fixture, Manchester United had to concede a 1-3 home defeat at the hands of Brighton.

In this article, we take a look at Manchester United’s worst-ever Premier League defeats.

5. Newcastle United vs Manchester United: 5-0 (1996)

Despite having big names like Peter Schmeichel, David Beckham, Gary Neville, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Eric Cantona at their disposal, Manchester United could not avoid a drubbing at the hands of Newcastle United in October 1996. Darren Peacock, Alan Shearer, David Ginola, Les Ferdinand and Philippe Albert scored for Newcastle United to earn a resounding 5-0 home win against Manchester United. The defeat was humiliating indeed but it could not prevent Manchester United from winning the Premier League title that season.

4. Brentford vs Manchester United: 4-0 (2022)

The Premier League match against Brentford in August 2022 marked Erik ten Hag’s second fixture as the Manchester United boss. The Dutchman had an unimpressive start to his Manchester United stint having suffered a 2-1 at home defeat against Brighton on the opening day of the Premier League that season. The scene did not change much in the next game. Manchester United, in their second Premier League game of the season, conceded a 4-0 defeat against Brentford. Josh Dasilva, Ben Mee, Mathias Jensen and Bryan Mbeumo found the back of the net for the Bees in that game.

3. Manchester United vs Manchester City: 1-6 (2011)

Manchester United, under Sir Alex Ferguson, had kicked off the 2011-12 Premier League journey on a promising note having secured an eight-game unbeaten run. Their juggernaut was, eventually, halted by arch-rivals Manchester City. More than the defeat, the manner in which the Red Devils were humbled in that encounter, still keep on haunting the Manchester United fans. Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko had scored a brace each for Manchester City in that game to record an epic 1-6 win. For Manchester United, their solitary goal was scored by Darren Fletcher.

2. Manchester United vs Tottenham: 1-6 (2020)

Manchester United started the Premier League fixture against Tottenham Hotspur promisingly after Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring for the hosts in the second minute. But the lead did not last long. Tottenham scripted an epic comeback to inflict one of the most heart-breaking defeats on Manchester United. Son Heung-min and Harry Kane bagged two goals each as the visitors claimed a resounding 1-6 victory.

1. Liverpool vs Manchester United: 7-0 (2023)

Manchester United have suffered a 7-0 defeat on four occasions and their latest seven-goal drubbing took place against Liverpool earlier this year in March. Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo finished the game with two goals each for Liverpool.