Dimitar Berbatov could hardly believe what he was seeing after Manchester United dropped into the relegation zone following Nottingham Forest's win on Saturday. The former United striker did not soften his view either. Speaking to mirror.co.uk, he said: "I don’t believe it, but the way United are playing sometimes they deserve to be there honestly."
United's league slide
Berbatov's reaction lands so hard because United's league numbers are grim. They have won just one of their nine Premier League games this season, sit 18th and have seven points from those nine matches. United's record is 1 win, 4 draws and 4 defeats, and they have not won in the league since August, when they beat Ipswich at home.
Berbatov was talking from a place of history as well as frustration. He played for United from 2008 to 2012 and won two Premier League titles there, so the disbelief comes from someone who knows exactly how far this start is from the standard he knew.
What comes next for United
The next league match is at home to Aston Villa on Sunday, with kickoff listed as 2026-11-08 16:30:00+00. Berbatov also left a sliver of room for a response when he added: "Tomorrow they still have a game."
The bigger issue is not the table label, whether you call it the relegation zone or the bottom three. United are 18th after one win in nine, and that is the number the club has to start changing at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
