Top 10 Man United Worst-Ever Premier League Defeats

Man United have had many forgettable games throughout the years, despite being the most successful club in the history of the English top flight.

On Sunday, Manchester United suffered a record 7-0 hammering at the hands of Liverpool. The Red Devils’ humiliation at Anfield was their worst loss ever; it was worse than the 6-0 losses they suffered against Ipswich and Leicester in 1980 and 1961, respectively.

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Considering United’s legendary past, the weekend match was only one of many horrible outcomes dealt to the Old Trafford club during the Premier League era.

Which, however, were the least memorable?

THEEAGLE ranks the worst defeats United have had in the league since 1996.

10. Newcastle 5-0 Manchester United | October 20, 1996

Newcastle was motivated to overtake United the following season after falling four points short of winning the Premier League in 1995–96.

With a 5-0 victory in October, they significantly increased their chances of winning the championship. Alan Shearer, David Ginola, and Les Ferdinand scored goals for them, and Philippe Albert added the game-winning goal with a memorable long-range chip over Peter Schmeichel.

Near the end of the season, the two clubs drew 0-0 at Old Trafford, and as a result, United was able to reclaim the league title, finishing seven points ahead of Newcastle, Arsenal, and Liverpool.

9. Chelsea 5-0 Manchester United | October 3, 1999

At Stamford Bridge, it didn’t take more than a minute for United’s perfect start to the 1999–2000 Premier League season to start falling apart.

The excitement began with Gus Poyet’s goal in the opening minute of play, and immediately after that, Chris Sutton’s goal. Poyet added a third goal early in the second half, Henning Berg scored an own goal, and Jody Morris added the final goal.

The team led by Sir Alex Ferguson won the Premier League title with an 18-point advantage over Arsenal, so while the defeat was disappointing, it didn’t have a significant impact.

8. Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool | March 14, 2009

It was all going so well when Cristiano Ronaldo put United a goal up after 22 minutes at Old Trafford.

The fun did not last long, though, as Fernando Torres equalised before the half-hour mark. Steven Gerrard, Fabio Aurelio and Andrea Dossena completed the turnaround and the humiliation, as Liverpool claimed a 4-1 win at Old Trafford.

The Reds beat United twice in the league that season as they kept them under pressure in the title race, but in the end United finished four points clear and lifted the Premier League trophy yet again.

7. Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City | October 23, 2011

Although the 2011–12 season was a thrilling title chase that ended with one of the greatest moments in Premier League history, it also has some terrible memories for Manchester United supporters.

The defending champions under Sir Alex Ferguson started the season with an eight-game unbeaten streak, but that promising run came to an end when they were destroyed 6-1 at home by Manchester City.

Mario Balotelli got the party going for the visitors with the opener after 22 minutes, unveiling his famous ‘Why Always Me?’ shirt in celebration, before United’s hopes of fighting back were dashed when Jonny Evans was sent off.

Balotelli doubled the lead on the hour mark before City then smashed another four goals past David de Gea in the last 30 minutes, with Darren Fletcher scoring a consolation for the home side.

The defeat was particularly damning for United as City went on to win the Premier League title on goal difference.

6. Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United | April 30, 2012

In October 2011, when they traveled to face their local rivals in the third-to-last match of the season, United had the chance to repair the damage that had been done at Old Trafford.

However, things did not go as expected because Roberto Mancini’s City team was the ones to break the tie.

Vincent Kompany rose the highest to meet David de Gea’s clearance as David Silva’s corner sailed into the United box.

The goal set off raucous celebrations from the home crowd and was sufficient to secure the three points, putting City in striking distance of their first Premier League championship since 1968.

5. Manchester United 0-3 Manchester City | March 25, 2014

After losing 4-1 against City on the road in the third week of the Premier League season, David Moyes’ reign as manager took a turn for the worst when the Red Devils were destroyed by them at home.

Before adding a second goal shortly before the hour mark, Edin Dzeko scored the game’s first goal in the opening minute. At the very end, Yaya Toure finished the devastation.

Although United finished in seventh place and City went on to win the title, Moyes continued by saying that his squad should strive to be on par with their cross-city rivals, a statement that was not well received by his club’s supporters.

4. Manchester United 1-6 Tottenham | October 4, 2020

It all started so well.

After just two minutes, Bruno Fernandes had fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team into a 1-0 lead against Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham at Old Trafford.

It did not last, though, as Tanguy Ndombele levelled matters almost immediately afterwards and three minutes later, Son Heung-min put the away side in the lead.

Son and Harry Kane would finish the game with two goals each while Serge Aurier also got in on the action as Spurs headed back to London with three points and big smiles.

3. Manchester United 0-5 Liverpool | October 24, 2021

United had a solid start to the 2021–22 season, but things quickly fell apart after they lost to Aston Villa, drew with Everton, and then lost 4–2 against Leicester.

Yet, things became even worse when Liverpool visited Old Trafford in late October.

Naby Keita gave the visitors the lead after only five minutes, and Diogo Jota quickly made it 2-0. After just 50 minutes, Mohamed Salah added to the Reds’ lead with a hat-trick, giving them a five-goal advantage.

While Liverpool went on to challenge for the Premier League title – losing it to Man City by just one point – this result proved to be the beginning of the end for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United, and they could not recover following the Norwegian’s sacking the following month.

2. Brentford 4-0 Manchester United | August 13, 2022

The reign of Erik ten Hag at United could not have started any worse.

On the first day of the season, they lost 2-1 to Brighton at home before being well outplayed by Brentford six days later.

The Bees took a 2-0 lead after just 20 minutes, and then Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo added two more goals to cap the carnage before halftime.

Ten Hag was under immediate fire as a result of the loss, but his team quickly recovered with an excellent 2-1 victory over Liverpool the following week.

1. Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United | March 5, 2023

For the first 40 minutes of the trip to Anfield, United had performed admirably.

But after Cody Gakpo scored the first goal just before halftime, they utterly disintegrated. Only two minutes into the second half, Darwin Nunez made a second addition, and shortly after that, Gakpo dribbled in his team’s third.

Then, Mohamed Salah scored two goals of his own to surpass Nunez as the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer for his team, and Roberto Firmino added another goal to seal United’s biggest-ever league defeat.