Gary Lineker has said that Manchester United are in an “interesting” position this season, despite falling into the Premier League relegation zone under Michael Carrick.

Manchester United are 18th in the Premier League and the Red Devils are level on points with 19th-place Sunderland and one point ahead of 20th-place Crystal Palace.

Lineker added: “But no, that’s different. You can look at yourself, ‘Oh, we’re in the mid-table, but you’re actually only four points above the bottom. That is interesting.”

United and Sunderland both have eight points from a possible 30 on offer after 10 Premier League matches, while Crystal Palace have seven so far. The Red Devils are only five points adrift of 10th-place Villa and six points off from climbing ahead of Unai Emery’s men.

Man Utd are level on points with West Ham at the same stage as last season, while the Red Devils are performing better than Palace — by a single point — did at this point in the 2024-25 campaign. Based on the last five seasons alone, only Wolves had more points (nine) than United after 10 matches in the bottom three of the Premier League table during the 2022-23 season.

United only need two points to leapfrog 17th-place Coventry City and 16th-place Nottingham Forest and to move level with 15th-place Fulham. The Red Devils won’t return to Premier League action until 22nd November against rivals Liverpool at Anfield.