Manchester United looking to avoid unwanted club losing run when they face Liverpool

Head coach Erik ten Hag is working under the knowledge that a poor end to the season could cost him his job in the Old Trafford hotseat.

On Thursday night, it appeared that the Dutchman had taken a significant step to strengthening his position when United came from 2-0 down after 19 minutes to lead Chelsea 3-2 at Stamford Bridge deep into stoppage time.

However, in one of the most chaotic finishes that the Premier League has ever seen, and one which produced a handful of records, the Blues scored twice past the 99th minute to remarkably prevail 4-3 in West London.

The capitulation could have ramifications for Ten Hag in the long term, most notably due to United now being nine points adrift of fifth position in the standings with eight matches remaining.

Losing to Chelsea made it 29 defeats in just 104 matches for Ten Hag at Old Trafford, while his win ratio is now back below 60% (59.62%).

In terms of the Premier League, things look no better for the former Ajax man with United having now suffered 12 defeats in a single Premier League campaign for just the third time.

That feat first occurred under a combination of David Moyes and Ryan Giggs during 2013-14, the first season after the departure of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

History would repeat itself in 2021-22 when United posted 12 losses over their 38-game campaign, again when different managers were at the helm in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Michael Carrick and Ralf Rangnick.

The defeats in questions came under Solskjaer and Rangnick, though, with Carrick not suffering a loss in his three