Does history offer warning or hope for Manchester Utd after five Premier League games?

With Amorim overseeing a big summer of change and new signings bedding in, the club might well have reason to look up the table rather than down.

Speaking at his press conference ahead of the Brentford trip, the manager remarked on how important it is for the team to start finding some consistency in the league.

“For me, the most important thing is to start the game the way we started against Chelsea, the way we started against Burnley, the way we started against Arsenal,” Amorim said.

“These kinds of games, we need to be really focused and to have that feeling that we need to win every match.”

The positive signs are beginning to show on the pitch, with United currently leading the way in the league for total shots and xG in an attacking sense, as well as ranking highly in other metrics such as touches in the opposition box and big chances created.

The latest Opta supercomputer may only give United a 6.2% chance of a top-four finish (and worryingly, a slightly greater probability of getting relegated at 6.6%), but the club will certainly look to defy these odds in the coming weeks and months, something Amorim is adamant they are capable of doing despite the challenges ahead.

“It’s really important for us to have that sense of urgency that we need to win no matter what, and it’s going to be really difficult,” he admitted.

“Every time we start preparing the game and you watch the next opponent, you think, ‘It’s going to be really, really tough’. I have that feeling.”

United have the most Premier League titles to date and, from experience, will tell you that nothing is won or lost after five games, with the outcome of the overall campaign far from being decided at this early stage.

They have won twice, lost twice, and drawn once from their opening five matches, collecting seven points.

While, somewhat worryingly, this is the same as their record last season, when they finished 15th, history tells us it is by no means a disaster.

In the 2020/21 season, when they also had the same record after five matches under Ole Gunnar Solskajer, United went on to finish second, only missing out on the title to local rivals Manchester City.

It must be noted that this was also their record in the very first Premier League campaign in 1992/93, when, of course, Sir Alex Ferguson’s team stormed back to end a 26-year top-flight title drought and embark on a period of dominance in which they claimed the title 13 times over 21 years.

Of those successes, six were won with The Red Devils picking up fewer than 10 points from their opening five fixtures.

In 1996/97, they won their fourth title in five years despite picking up just nine points from their first five.

Two years later, in 1998/99, United had just eight points after their opening five rounds of games, but that was, of course, long forgotten by May as they not only lifted the Premier League, but also won the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League as part of a historic treble.

They had identical opening records for the title wins of 2002/03, 2007/08 and 2008/09, when eight points from five matches eventually translated to title success.

Man Utd after 5 games each Premier League season

United have only fared worse than their current total after five matches of a Premier League season on three occasions.

In 2004/05, with only six points after five games, they still managed to finish in third behind Chelsea and Arsenal.

Ten years later, Louis van Gaal’s side picked up just five points from their opening five games but still managed to achieve UEFA Champions League qualification with a fourth-place finish.

Eric ten Hag then oversaw United collecting just six points of a possible 15 in 2023/24 as the club floundered to an eighth-place finish at the end of the campaign.

However, they still managed to end the season on a high after goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo secured victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

Curiously, United’s best start to a Premier League season and the only time they claimed maximum points from their first five was in 2011/12, the year few would forget as they finished second to City in dramatic final-day, Sergio Aguero-inspired fashion.

Ultimately, for United, or anyone else for that matter, it seems unwise to draw conclusions about the overall season after such a small sample size.

A slow start might provide an indication of how things are progressing, but by no means paints a full picture.

Amorim and his team will be looking to change the early season narrative surrounding United starting at the Gtech Community Stadium.

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Brentford v Manchester United will be live on TNT Sports 1 with coverage from 11:00 UK time on Saturday, September 27, ahead of kick-off at 12:30.