Manchester United will attempt to bounce back from another disheartening defeat that has sparked fresh doubts about manager Erik ten Hag's future as they travel to Porto for their Europa League clash on Thursday.
The 20-time English champions are experiencing their joint-worst start in the Premier League era, having secured just seven points from six games and scoring only five goals. United's European campaign also got off to a shaky start, drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford last week against Ten Hag's former club Twente. Midfielder Christian Eriksen described the result as "feeling like a loss." This extended United's poor European form to just one win in nine games following their disastrous Champions League campaign last season.
After the 3-0 loss to Spurs on Sunday, Ten Hag once again called for patience to turn the club's fortunes around, acknowledging that his team is far from meeting expectations. "We have to show resilience because this is not good enough. We have to accept this and, from this point on, we have to do things better," Ten Hag said. "It is always a new day. I told them, just in the dressing room, to come on. Tomorrow is a new day. We definitely have to learn, we have to do things better." He emphasized his focus on the Porto match, closing the chapter on the Tottenham defeat and moving forward.
Ten Hag is also waiting to assess the extent of injuries to Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount. United captain Bruno Fernandes, who hails from Porto and played for local rivals Boavista in his youth, is well aware of what to expect from their upcoming opponents, who lost 3-2 to Norway's Bodo/Glimt in their opening Europa League game. "It's a side that always does really well in Europe, we have to be aware of that," Fernandes told MUTV. "They are improving a lot in the last few games, even if they lost the last game in the Europa League." Fernandes added, "We expect a really difficult game there, but we go there to win because it's everything that we have to think about." Fernandes avoided a three-match domestic ban after his club successfully appealed his red card in the Spurs defeat.
Tottenham's convincing win over United was their fourth consecutive victory in all competitions, achieved without Son Heung-min, who was sidelined due to a hamstring injury. Manager Ange Postecoglou remained focused ahead of Thursday's trip to Hungarian side Ferencvaros, stating, "Nothing changes. We've just got to keep doing what we're doing. There's still a lot of improvement to do in many areas, but the good thing about the group is they want to keep improving."
Rangers made a triumphant start away to Malmo and will host Lyon in their second game of the expanded league phase format. Lyon beat last season's Conference League winners Olympiakos 2-0 in their opening match. Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce will visit Twente before United face the man who led them to Europa League glory in 2017, after the international break. Real Sociedad host Anderlecht and Ajax travel to Slavia Prague, while Lazio are at home to Nice. Roma aim to continue their resurgence since the sacking of club icon Daniele De Rossi away to Swedish outfit Elfsborg.
