Manchester United have had a dismal start to their 2026/27 campagin.

United began the season with an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Hull City away from home. Michael Carrick's side were outclassed by the newly promoted side and deserved to lose.

United then bounced back with an impressive 5-2 victory against Ipswich Town. United were then on the verge of taking all three points against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but a stunning late goal from Ainsley Maitland-Niles meant United had to settle for a point on Merseyside.

United began their Champions League campaign with a commanding 4-0 victory against Sabah FK, but then followed that up with a defeat to Manchester City, despite playing against 10 men for the majority of the game.

Following the defeat on derby day, United failed to bounce back against Brighton and Hove Albion. United led 2-0 within 10 minutes thanks to goals from Shea Lacey and Mason Mount, but the performance that followed in the 80 minutes afterwards was far from acceptable, and the Seagulls successfully completed a comeback, winning 3-2 at Old Trafford.

Despite United's poor form in the early stages of the season, Gary Neville expects United to beat Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

“United will win this. I think United will win on Sunday. To be fair, having watched Fulham a couple of times, I think they’re really going to struggle," Neville said, speaking on The Overlap.

“To be fair, you’re probably clipping this up on Sunday night, but everything about Fulham for me now looks like they could be in real trouble. I think 2-1.”

Fulham have had a poor start to the season under Álvaro Arbeloa. The Cottagers have just one point from their first four Premier League games this season, but they did beat West Ham United in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

United have already dropped points against Hull City and Everton this season. On paper, those are two games that United should have taken six points from.

If United drop points against Fulham, it would mean that they would have won only one of their first five Premier League games. The pressure on Carrick is already very high, but a defeat to Arbeloa's side on Sunday would see the pressure increase even more.

Carrick did an excellent job last season, but his time at the club may come to an end soon if he does not find a way to turn results around quickly.

However, while sacking Carrick may lead to improved results in the short-term, the problems at United run far deeper than just the head coach, and until there is change at the very top, this football club will continue to struggle.