Manchester United head into the international break in the bottom half of the table – five points above the relegation zone and 10 from top spot.
Eight points represents United’s lowest tally after seven games of a Premier League season, and they are already six points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.
The club’s board will hold their regular meeting on Tuesday, with manager Erik ten Hag’s future and their position in the table likely to be on the agenda.
One thing is for sure – even at this admittedly early stage, they are giving themselves an uphill battle to secure Champions League football for next season.
What does history tell us about chances of a top-four finish?
Only twice in Premier League history has a team with eight points or fewer after seven games gone on to qualify for the Champions League.
Back in 2011-12, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal were 15th with seven points, 12 off the leaders – who back then were the Red Devils – and eight off fourth place.
The Gunners finished third with 70 points, comfortably in the Champions League places.
The other instance was in 2022-23, when Eddie Howe’s Newcastle had eight points and went on to finish fourth with 71.
Neither Arsenal nor Newcastle made managerial changes after those relatively slow starts – but statisticians Opta give Ten Hag’s side just a 2% chance of making the top four.
Could fifth be enough this season?
The battle for an additional Champions League spot at the tail end of last season drew plenty of attention.
For a while it looked as though England would get one, but ultimately Italy and Germany were the beneficiaries because of the performances of their clubs in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
We are very early in this season’s competitions, and the tables are skewed in favour of countries whose teams did well in the qualifiers.
However, it is expected the bigger countries will be the ones battling it out at the end as their teams will be the ones contending for the trophies.
Of the major countries, England have a higher points average and already seem well placed to get a number of clubs through to the last 16 or play-off phase, with five out of seven ranked in the top eight.
What other routes do Man Utd have?
Winning the Europa League this season would offer a path to the Champions League next year.
However, the Red Devils would need to perform significantly better than they did against Porto last week, when they went from leading 2-0 to trailing 3-2 before Harry Maguire’s last-minute equaliser.
United are still waiting for their first win in this season’s Europa League, having drawn against FC Twente in their opening fixture.
They are next in European action on 24 October when they travel to Turkey to face their former manager Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce side.
What’s Man Utd’s best winning run under Ten Hag?
United will need a strong run of form to propel them into Champions League contention after a disappointing start.
Ten Hag has taken his side on impressive runs before, winning nine games in a row in all competitions between November 2022 and January 2023 – their longest such streak in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
That included five Premier League victories in a row – his best winning sequence in a full season – and took them from fifth in the table to third.
They went on to finish the campaign in that position, behind second-placed Arsenal and champions Manchester City.
What is the financial impact on Man Utd of no Champions League?
United stated in their accounts that if they failed to qualify for the Champions League, they would suffer a £10m hit in their shirt deal with Adidas.
The overall 10-year extension, signed in July 2023, runs to 2035. BBC Sport was previously told by United it was worth a minimum £900m.
In August, Qualcomm senior vice-president Don McGuire said there was no similar clause in its £60m-a-year front-of-shirt deal with United that has the Snapdragon logo on club match kit to 2027.
Premier League clubs also receive about £3m per place in prize money at the end of each season.
That would make the difference between finishing in the fourth automatic Champions League qualification place and eighth, where they ended last season, about £12m.
What would be the cost of sacking Ten Hag?
BBC Sport chief football news writer Simon Stone:
It is not known exactly what compensation would be paid to Ten Hag if his contract was terminated.
In 2021, Ten Hag’s predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer received a £7m pay-off when he was sacked, with an additional £3m going to other members of his staff. This sum goes directly to a club’s accounts under the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules, reducing the amount they have to spend on players.
As with transfers, any compensation payable for a new manager can be amortised over the period of the contract. It would depend on the length of contract and the compensation how much of that goes into the current year’s accounts.
However, a club may calculate an anticipated upturn in performance could generate more money in TV revenue, gate receipts and prize money to be worth making a move.
And, as happened last summer, clubs have until 30 June to submit their accounts so any who are at risk of exceeding the Premier League’s limit of £105m of allowable losses over three seasons can sell players.
Last month United announced a net loss of £113.2m to 30 June 2024. The previous years’ losses were £28.7m and £115.5m.
Some of the losses can be clawed back for PSR purposes and United say they are committed to abiding by the rules.
How often have Man Utd been without Champions League football?
It used to be unthinkable not seeing United in the Champions League.
Under Ferguson they won it twice – in 1999-00 and 2007-08 – and finished runners-up on two more occasions (2008-09 and 2010-11).
But since he retired in 2013 they have competed in it seven times and the Europa League six times.
They have reached the Champions League quarter-finals just twice since Ferguson left, and never progressed further than that.
