Tottenham v Man United: Next two PL games could define United's season

Next up is a trip to an equally indifferent Tottenham team for Saturday's teatime kick-off, before seven days later, Manchester City make the short trip to Old Trafford for the first derby of the season.

With them sat seventh in the table and an international break looming on the back of the City game, as well as rumours linking Antonio Conte with the club, Solskjaer's side need an upturn in form.

So what's the issue?

Ask any United fan where they think the team is struggling and almost certainly, they'll point to a lack of quality in midfield. While Scott McTominay, Fred and Nemanja Matic are undoubtedly fine players, none possess the craft required to consistently unlock opposition defences.

Simultaneously, his red card 15 minutes after coming off the bench against Liverpool demonstrated that Paul Pogba is short of the required discipline to be trusted to run the team from the middle of the park.

Failing to replace Paul Scholes, arguably after his first retirement in 2011, has hindered United's progress.

Of course, finding someone to step in for a once in a generation homegrown talent was never going to be easy, but you feel that has to be the priority for either January or next summer.

Spurs in similar straits

If there is any, the good news is that United have had a week to prepare for Saturday's trip to N17 and face a Tottenham team who also seem to be treading a similarly weary path.

Nuno Espirito Santo went strong with his selection for Wednesday's 1-0 League Cup win at Burnley, with Harry Kane captaining the team at Turf Moor.

Nuno has been criticised since arriving at Spurs and despite only being a matter of months into the job, has also seen his position questioned.