Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag insisted the Red Devils are genuinely at risk of relegation if they cannot find a way to reverse their current slump.

The Dutchman, in charge at Old Trafford between July 2022 and October 2024, has gleefully taken recent opportunities to comment on his former employer’s current struggles and reignite his feud with Cristiano Ronaldo, and that trend continued during an appearance on ESPN’s Goedemorgen Eredivisie.

The focus soon turned to United’s domestic struggles this season. A run of nine games without a win in all competitions has seen the Red Devils tumble down to 17th in the Premier League, outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.

While predicting relegation just nine games into the season is excessive, Ten Hag was quick to remind the Red Devils that the Premier League is strong enough to punish any team that stays stuck in a slump for too long.

“In the Premier League it’s certainly possible [that United could be relegated], because all the teams are simply strong,” he said. “They’re all strong squads, all good managers. And if you end up on the wrong side once and you really get into that vicious circle ... yes, then it can become very, very difficult.”

Could Man Utd Actually Get Relegated?

Objectively, relegation is a threat open to every team in the Premier League, although there are a handful of teams for which a drop down to the second tier seems almost incomprehensible.

Arsenal could, in theory, get relegated, but that’s not going to happen. Likewise, Manchester City could tumble down into the drop zone, but that is likely only going to happen if they are hit with a mammoth points deduction.

United are one of those teams that fall into that bracket. They may not be as strong as they were in the Sir Alex Ferguson days, but the Red Devils have remained one of the Premier League’s top sides and even their tricky dips in form have never led to genuine fears of relegation ... until now?

As we saw last season with Tottenham Hotspur, another member of the ‘Big Six’ for whom relegation seems incomprehensible, a fall into a relegation fight is entirely feasible. The Lilywhites survived last season by just two points with 10 wins from their 38 games. Even this year under Roberto De Zerbi, Spurs were bottom of the table after five games.

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Teams across England are good enough to take advantage of a club facing such struggles. United have found that out already by failing to beat Hull City, Everton, Fulham, Leeds United and Bournemouth, with their only league victory coming against an Ipswich Town outfit that now sit four points ahead of Michael Carrick’s team.

After this weekend’s defeat to Chelsea, the Opta supercomputer put United’s chances of relegation at 20.77%. That has subsequently risen to 22.16%. Fortunately for the Red Devils, no fewer than seven teams are given greater odds of facing the drop.

Evidently, relegation remains highly unlikely for United, but Carrick and his players will learn a lesson from Tottenham. Just because you are too good for a relegation battle does not mean you won’t land in one without results.