What Happened the Last Time Man Utd Started a Season With Five Points From Five Games?

The Red Devils are hoping things will click into place after a slow start to the new campaign.

Man Utd were held to a draw by Fulham in their most recent game. | Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Following on from last season, when Michael Carrick’s team took 39 points from a possible 51 in the final 17 games—more than Arsenal and Manchester City over the same period, Manchester United probably hoped for a stronger start to the 2026–27 campaign.

This is more or less the same XI, save for Youri Tielemans subbing in for Casemiro and Marcus Rashford back in favor after 28 goal contributions during his loan at Barcelona.

But United were stunned by two Hull City set pieces on the opening day—the Tigers have continued to defy expectation since. The Red Devils put five past Ipswich Town, but a late Everton equalizer, a controversial Manchester City winner that has since been confirmed as a refereeing/VAR mistake, and a slow first 70 minutes punished by Fulham have made this a challenging start.

The numbers suggest that United are getting the ball into the right areas. Opta data reveals that no team has had more touches in the opposition’s box (182), while they have also allowed the fewest touches in their own box (92). It’s perhaps why Carrick doesn’t appear overly concerned, because it suggests tweaks are needed rather than major changes. But the results are yet to consistently come.

United have taken five points out of a possible 15 from five games, which matches their lowest tally in the Premier League era—since 1992—at this stage of a season.

United had a ropey start to the inaugural Premier League season, losing successive games against Sheffield United and Everton off the bat and not getting a first win until game four. But things then picked up, and by the time they’d played five games, it was seven points on the board. No, the only previous time the club collected as few as five points was much more recent: 2014–15.

5 - With five points, this is Manchester United's joint-lowest tally after five games of a Premier League season, also picking up five in 2014-15.

Sluggish. pic.twitter.com/UZTBWRpGnm

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 20, 2026

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Underwhelming Start to Louis van Gaal Era

Louis van Gaal opened with a defeat to Swansea. | Richard Sellers/EMPICS/Getty Images

After the David Moyes experiment failed and the plug was pulled 10 months on as United headed to what was then a worst finish—7th—in the Premier League era, 2014–15 marked the start of a new era. Louis van Gaal, a national champion with Barcelona and Bayern Munich and a Champions League winner with Ajax, began work. That the Dutchman had just guided the Netherlands to an unexpected but brilliant third place at the 2014 World Cup only added to the hype and excitement.

United went big in the transfer market, too, tying up early deals for Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw, before adding Real Madrid wing wizard Ángel Di María and World Cup stars Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind after the season had begun. Radamel Falcao also joined on loan.

Even the fixture list was kind, but United were trying to learn a new way of playing on the job and results suffered. A 2–1 defeat to Swansea City at Old Trafford was the first time the club had lost at home in a season opener since 1972. The performance was described in news reports at the time as “disjointed,” and injuries meant debuts for Jesse Lingard and Tyler Blackett. Successive away draws against Sunderland (1–1) and Burnley (0–0) followed.

Then came the September international break, followed by the visit of Queens Park Rangers in which Di María, Rojo and Blind all started. Di María shone on his home debut and United, having already been eliminated from the Carabao Cup by MK Dons in a shock 4–0 thrashing, had their first win of the campaign. The 4–0 scoreline, which included goals from Di María and Herrera, looked as though it would mark a corner turned.

Ángel Di María was on fire in September 2014. | John Peters/Manchester United/Getty Images

Although his form ultimately wouldn’t last amid struggles settling off the field, Di María continued to be excellent against Leicester City a week later, scoring an unorthodox lob to help his team open up a 3–1 lead. But an astonishing collapse ensued, with the game finishing 5–3 in Leicester’s favor and marking the first time United had ever lost a Premier League match in which they held a two-goal lead.

Van Gaal’s United did largely recover from that inauspicious start to the season. Things started to click in November, with a run of six-straight wins firing the team from ninth to third, part of a longer unbeaten run in the league that lasted two months and 10 games.

From mid-January to mid-April, United only lost one of 10 Premier League matches, including another run of six-straight wins to sit third in the standings. But what followed was only one win from the final six games to limp home in fourth, rather than mount a late title challenge. The eight-point gap that existed to leaders Chelsea with six games left, became 17 by the end. Still, a top-four finish meant Champions League qualification.

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A Good or Bad Start Doesn’t Always Define the Season

Sir Alex Ferguson sometimes posted low tallies through the first five games. | Matthew Peters/Manchester United/Getty Images

It defintely wasn’t unusual for Alex Ferguson-led United teams to accumulate single-figure points through the opening five matches of a Premier League season. It happened eight times and the Red Devils still won the title in six of them. But the Scot also often threw down 11, 12 or 13, and achieving 10 or more points over that number of games to start a campaign is rarer now.

In 14 seasons since 2012–13—including this one—United have taken 10 or more points from the first five matches in only three. The year after his record-low five-point haul, Van Gaal pulled in 10, while José Mourinho’s second season began in blistering fashion with 13 points. That was also how many Ole Gunnar Solskjӕr delivered in 2021–22, before results fell off a cliff and he lost his job.

Only once in 35 Premier League seasons has a United team achieved a perfect record through five games. That was in 2011–12, which ironically didn’t end in a championship. But it goes to show that while the first five results of a season are important, they’re not always defining.

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Man Utd’s Points From the First Five Games of Every Premier League Season

Season	Points After Five Games	Final Position
1992–93	7	1st
1993–94	13	1st
1994–95	10	2nd
1995–96	12	1st
1996–97	9	1st
1997–98	13	2nd
1998–99	8	1st
1999–00	13	1st
2000–01	11	1st
2001–02	8	3rd
2002–03	8	1st
2003–04	12	3rd
2004–05	6	3rd
2005–06	11	2nd
2006–07	12	1st
2007–08	8	1st
2008–09	8	1st
2009–10	12	2nd
2010–11	11	1st
2011–12	15	2nd
2012–13	12	1st
2013–14	7	7th
2014–15	5	4th
2015–16	10	5th
2016–17	9	6th
2017–18	13	2nd
2018–19	9	6th
2019–20	8	3rd
2020–21	7	2nd
2021–22	13	6th
2022–23	9	3rd
2023–24	6	8th
2024–25	7	15th
2025–26	7	3rd
2026–27	5	-

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