MANCHESTER UNITED are lucky not to be facing a relegation battle this season, according to new statistics.
That’s after the Premier League table based on expected points was released.
The total points were calculated by looking at all results this season based on xG by data company Stats Perform.
And anyone that has watched United give up shots for fun and struggle to create chances in recent games won’t be surprised to see them so far down the table.
The table has them in 15th, with only Wolves and Crystal Palace separating them from the relegation zone.
The miserable statistics will make for damning reading for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS as they look to decide on Erik ten Hag’s future.
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The manager is feeling the pressure following a difficult second season and stormed out of his last press conference.
The Dutchman objected to questions about where United will finish, with the team currently on course for their worst finish in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
He’s also experiencing more player unrest, after Alejandro Garnacho liked posts which publicly criticised his manager on X.
SunSport exclusively reported earlier this month that the club have already sounded out Graham Potter as a potential replacement for Ten Hag, with INEOS being a long-term fan of the former Brighton man.
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The projected points table makes for far better reading for Chelsea fans, however.
If the Blues had finished according to their xG, they would be inside the top four, ahead of Newcastle on goal difference.
Perhaps yesterday’s 6-0 win over Everton was an indication of what could be to come if Chelsea do actually start converting their chances.
It also has Arsenal leading the title race by two points ahead of nearest rivals Manchester City.
The disparity between where Arsenal could be and where they are could be explained by the club’s reluctance to buy a striker in the January window.
Newcastle, who could be on a late charge for a potential fifth Champions League place after thrashing Spurs 4-0, would be in fifth on expected points if they had converted as well as they did on Saturday.
The table also shows how much Brentford have missed Ivan Toney, with the club eighth on expected points.
In reality they are 15th, and have only recently begun to pull away from the relegation strugglers.
An important distinction to make is that the table does not include points deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest – who would still be safe if their xG had been converted into actual goals.
Tuchel showed why he could be the perfect man for Man Utd, says Andy Dillon
By Andy Dillon
TOMMY TUCHEL could not have done it better had he submitted his CV to LinkedIn or Indeed.
Somehow mustering some gumption from the worst Bayern Munich team in more than a decade to stop a rampant Arsenal dead in their tracks is a spectacular job advert for a manager soon to be looking for work.
If Sir Jim Ratcliffe wasn’t watching from his Old Trafford office or from the cinema room in one of his tax havens, he should have been.
They may have even sat up and taken notice in Newcastle or in the owners’ Riyadh hub as Tuchel reminded everyone of his credentials as a top-level coach with devilish timing.
If change is coming then Tuchel is playing a trump card.
His side turned up and cowed the team that, as far as the current Premier League goes, is the best in England.
It may only add to the questions around Tuchel that after tossing away the only league easier to win than Scotland’s or Spain’s, Munich have sprung to life in Europe.
After 11 years unopposed as German champions, Chelsea’s former manager has chucked it in at home in a remarkable act of ineptitude. But freak years can happen.
Tuchel is an enigma. But that is part of the appeal as much as winning the Champions League with Chelsea just three months after taking the job.
With no new signings, he took a team that had lost five of the previous ten games and turned them into European Champions.
With Ratcliffe considering swingeing budget cuts at Old Trafford, a coach who can perform wonders on peanuts would be music to his ears.
Click here to ready Andy’s column in full.
Or to read more from Andy Dillon, click here.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
