While the Red Devils are the most successful club in English top-flight history, they have also had plenty of games to forget over the years
Manchester United were on the receiving end of a historic 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday. The humiliation at Anfield was the biggest defeat the Red Devils have ever had to suffer, surpassing the 6-0 defeats they endured against Ipswich and Leicester in 1980 and 1961 respectively.
Despite United’s illustrious history, the weekend showdown was just one of many abysmal results inflicted on the Old Trafford club in the Premier League era.
But which were the most forgettable?
Insight Media Sport Arena ranks the worst defeats United have had in the league since 1992…
12. Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City | February 10, 2008
Despite the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Nani and Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils were unable to overpower Man City.
Sven-Goran Eriksson’s team beat United on home soil in the second week of the campaign, but the defeat at Old Trafford the following February was particularly painful.
The match came just days after the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, but Ferguson’s team fell behind through goals from Darius Vassell and Benjani.
Michael Carrick scored late on for United, but they were unable to rescue a point.
11. Brighton 4-0 Manchester United | May 7, 2022
The wheels had well and truly fallen off under Ralf Rangnick by the time United made the trip to Brighton near the end of the 2021-22 season.
Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Pascal Gross and Leandro Trossard all scored in the first hour at the Amex Stadium as the Red Devils were crushed by Graham Potter’s team.
They went on to draw with Chelsea and lose to Crystal Palace in the final two games of the season as they scraped to a sixth-placed finish in the top-flight.
10. Chelsea 5-0 Manchester United | October 3, 1999
It took less than a minute for United’s unbeaten start to the 1999-2000 Premier League season to begin unwinding at Stamford Bridge.
Gus Poyet got the fun underway in the first minute of the game, followed by Chris Sutton’s strike shortly afterwards. Poyet added a third early in the second half while Henning Berg scored an own goal before Jody Morris rounded things off.
The defeat was an embarrassing one for Sir Alex Ferguson’s boys, but not too damaging as they went on to win the Premier League title with an 18-point lead over runners-up Arsenal.
9. Newcastle 5-0 Manchester United | October 20, 1996
After missing out on the Premier League title in 1995-96 by four points, Newcastle were determined to catch up with United the following season.
They gave their title hopes a huge boost with a 5-0 win in October, with Alan Shearer, David Ginola and Les Ferdinand among those to score before Philippe Albert sealed the win with a memorable long-range chip over Peter Schmeichel.
The two teams played out a goalless draw when they met at Old Trafford near the end of the season and United were able to secure the league crown once again, with Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool all sitting seven points behind them.
8. Manchester United 0-3 Manchester City | March 25, 2014
If losing 4-1 away to City in the third week of the Premier League season wasn’t bad enough, David Moyes’ spell in charge got even worse when the Red Devils were hammered by them on home soil.
Edin Dzeko opened the scoring in the first minute before adding a second just before the hour mark. Yaya Toure then completed the destruction towards the end.
City went on to win the title while United finished in seventh place and Moyes went on to say that his team must aspire to be at their cross-city rivals’ level, an assertion that did not go down well with his club’s fans.
7. Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool | March 14, 2009
It was all going so well when Cristiano Ronaldo put United a goal up after 22 minutes at Old Trafford.
The fun did not last long, though, as Fernando Torres equalised before the half-hour mark. Steven Gerrard, Fabio Aurelio and Andrea Dossena completed the turnaround and the humiliation, as Liverpool claimed a 4-1 win at Old Trafford.
The Reds beat United twice in the league that season as they kept them under pressure in the title race, but in the end United finished four points clear and lifted the Premier League trophy yet again.
6. Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United | April 30, 2012
United had the opportunity to undo the damage that had been done on at Old Trafford in October 2011 when they visited their city rivals in the third-last game of the campaign.
All did not go according to plan, however, as it was Roberto Mancini’s City side who broke the deadlock.
David Silva’s corner came sailing into the United box where Vincent Kompany jumped highest to meet the ball and head it past David de Gea.
The goal sparked wild celebrations from the hosts and proved enough to secure the three points, putting City in touching distance of a first Premier League title 1968.
5. Brentford 4-0 Manchester United | August 13, 2022
Erik ten Hag’s reign at United could hardly have had a worse start.
After going down 2-1 at home against Brighton on the opening day of the campaign, they were run ragged by Brentford just six days later.
Within 20 minutes, the Bees were 2-0 up, before Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo added two more to complete the rout before half-time.
The defeat put immediate pressure on Ten Hag, but his side bounced back with an impressive 2-1 win against Liverpool the following week.
4. Manchester United 1-6 Tottenham | October 4, 2020
It all started so well after just two minutes, Bruno Fernandes had fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team into a 1-0 lead against Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham at Old Trafford.
It did not last, though, as Tanguy Ndombele levelled matters almost immediately afterwards and three minutes later, Son Heung-min put the away side in the lead.
Son and Harry Kane would finish the game with two goals each while Serge Aurier also got in on the action as Spurs headed back to London with three points and big smiles.
3. Manchester United 0-5 Liverpool | October 24, 2021
United were off to a respectable start in the 2021-22 campaign, but it soon came crashing down when they were beaten by Aston Villa, drew with Everton and then were bested 4-2 at Leicester.
The run went from bad to worse in late-October, though, when Liverpool paid a visit to Old Trafford.
Within five minutes, the visitors were ahead through Naby Keita, and Diogo Jota made it 2-0 not long afterwards. Mohamed Salah then chipped in with a hat-trick, giving the Reds a five-goal cushion after just 50 minutes.
While Liverpool went on to challenge for the Premier League title – losing it to Man City by just one point – this result proved to be the beginning of the end for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United, and they could not recover following the Norwegian’s sacking the following month.
2. Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City | October 23, 2011
It was a gripping title race that culminated in one of the greatest moments in Premier League history, but for Manchester United fans, the 2011-12 season brings up some horrifying memories.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s reigning champions started the season with an eight-game unbeaten run, only to see that bright spell crushed as they were annihilated 6-1 at home by Manchester City.
Mario Balotelli got the party going for the visitors with the opener after 22 minutes, unveiling his famous ‘Why Always Me?’ shirt in celebration, before United’s hopes of fighting back were dashed when Jonny Evans was sent off.
Balotelli doubled the lead on the hour mark before City then smashed another four goals past David de Gea in the last 30 minutes, with Darren Fletcher scoring a consolation for the home side.
The defeat was particularly damning for United as City went on to win the Premier League title on goal difference.
1. Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United | March 5, 2023
United had put in a decent performance for the first 40 minutes of the visit to Anfield.
But they crumbled in spectacular fashion after Cody Gakpo scored the opening goal before half-time. Darwin Nunez added a second just two minutes into the second half, not long before Gakpo dinked in his team’s third.
Mohamed Salah then bagged two goals of his own to become his team’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League, while Nunez netted his second and Roberto Firmino rounded off the scoring to complete United’s biggest-ever league defeat.
