Why the next two weeks could define Man United's season

If it's true that history repeats itself first as a tragedy then as a farce, Erik ten Hag will have even more reason to be concerned ahead of Manchester United's upcoming trip to Anfield in two weeks.

United travel to Merseyside on December 17, almost exactly five years to the day since they lost away to Liverpool in Jose Mourinho's final game in charge.

The Portuguese was relieved of his duties on December 18, 2018 following a 3-1 defeat at Anfield two days earlier that left United sixth on the table, 19 points behind then-league leaders Liverpool.

There are only seven points between the two sides now, but the gulf between them feels as wide as it did when Mourinho was sacked four years ago.

While Ten Hag's future isn't in immediate danger, the trip down the East Lancs Road could hardly come at a worse time for United who face yet another potentially season-defining spell.

The 1-0 against Newcastle at St James' Park on Saturday night ended a three-game winning run in the Premier League and left ten Hag's men marooned in seventh place.

If the result was disappointing, the manner of the defeat was borderline inexcusable. United never looked at the races against Newcastle and several pundits, from Paul Scholes to Roy Keane and from Jamie Carragher to Alan Shearer, questioned the lack of effort from a number of players.

‘Rubbish,’ was Scholes’s opinion for Premier League Productions. ‘There are too many lazy players.’

Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Shearer suggested the manner of the defeat spoke volumes for the attitude of some United players.

'I thought they were a mess, I thought they were terrible,' he said.

'I thought there were three or four players yesterday who were not prepared to roll their sleeves up and gave