By the numbers: Just how bad was Man United's worst-ever EPL season?

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Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United finished the Premier League campaign in 8th place despite Sunday’s 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in their last match of the season.

The underachieving club could still end the season on a high note with a victory over local rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final next Sunday. But too many instances of poor defending, inconsistent finishing, and general calamity have preceded that date at Wembley Stadium.

Below are stats and facts arising across United’s domestic and European travails this term:

-1 – Manchester United ended the season with a negative goal difference for the first time since finishing with minus-1 in the 1989-90 top-flight campaign.

1 – With a 1-0 away win and 4-0 rout at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace recorded their first-ever league double over Manchester United this season.

2 – Antony, a €100-million signing in the summer of 2022, offered two goal contributions (one goal and one assist) over the whole Premier League campaign. The winger’s most memorable on-pitch moment this term was his widely mocked, drawn-out celebration against League Two’s Newport County in the FA Cup.

8 – The Red Devils suffered their worst-ever Premier League finish of eighth place, one spot lower than the infamous David Moyes season of 2013-14.

8 – Manchester United allowed three or more goals in eight different matches over the 2023-24 Premier League campaign. That number rises to 14 across all competitions.

9 – United matched their record for home defeats in a campaign with nine. That total across all competitions was the same in the 1930-31, 1933-34, 1962-63, and 1973-74 seasons.

10 – Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund each scored 10 goals in England’s top flight. It’s a commendable return, but it also makes them United’s least prolific top scorer(s) in a Premier League campaign. Wayne Rooney (2004-05) and Anthony Martial (2015-16) both tallied the previous low of 11.

14 – Manchester United broke their record for the most defeats in a Premier League season in the cataclysmic 4-0 shellacking at Crystal Palace. They followed that up with a loss to Arsenal. Fourteen league defeats are the most United suffered since the 1989-90 campaign (16).

14 – Hojlund, who tied for the team lead in league goals this season, endured a 14-game drought to begin life among England’s elite. His duck was finally broken with a match-winning goal against Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

15 – United didn’t find much relief in Europe. They conceded 15 goals through six Champions League group games, which is the most for a Premier League team in that stage of the competition. Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea allowed the same amount of goals during the 38-game slog of the 2004-05 Premier League season.

18 – Alex Iwobi’s 97th-minute finish at Old Trafford in February snapped an 18-game winless streak for Fulham against Manchester United. It was their first victory over the Red Devils in all competitions since December 2009, when future United defender Chris Smalling was an unused substitute for the Cottagers.

19 – Manchester United have fallen to 19 defeats in all competitions. They haven’t lost that many games in a single season since the 1977-78 term.

57 – United scored 57 Premier League goals this campaign, their third-worst total after 49 in 2015-16 and 54 in 2016-17. They also scored just 57 goals in 2021-22.

58 – The 20-time English champions conceded more top-flight goals than any of their other seasons in the Premier League era. That trumps the previous record of 57 from the 2021-22 season.

360 – Ten Hag’s team has allowed a whopping 360 shots in 2024. That’s more than any other Premier League side. And yes, that includes Sheffield United.

1930 – To begin the campaign, Manchester United lost five times over their opening 10 home matches in all competitions. It marked their worst record in their own backyard since the 1930-31 season.

1978 – Last September, Ten Hag’s men let in three or more goals in three consecutive games (against Arsenal, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Bayern Munich) for the first time since December 1978.