Alternative table shows Ruben Amorim has actually improved Man United
Ruben Amorim has come under intense scrutiny during his time as manager of Manchester United, but a new table shows that he may well be leading the club in the right direction.
Ruben Amorim could have lost his Manchester United job if his side tasted defeat to Sunderland, and the Portuguese coach has had to deal with criticism from all quarters this season.
Gary Neville has criticised Amorim for the job he’s done at Old Trafford, but with his future potentially on the line, his side put in their strongest performance of the season so far, with the game against Sunderland all but wrapped up after 30 minutes thanks to goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko.
An alternative Premier League table shows that Man United‘s 10 points from seven games this season, although still below their standards, is actually an improvement on their total from the same stage last season.
Indeed, after seven games last season under Amorim’s predecessor Erik ten Hag, they were two points worse off and had scored five goals fewer.
What the data says about Manchester United this season
Man United have generated the most expected goals (xG) of any side in the Premier League this season, with 13.6 xG.
They have actually scored nine goals this season, and two of those were own goals, only serving to highlight the wastefulness of their players rather than a weakness in Amorim’s attacking ideology.
Their xG figure averages out at 1.98 per game, which is a sizeable improvement on their return of 1.38 xG per game across last season.
When combined with their xG conceded, the Red Devils have the fourth-best expected goal difference in the Premier League this season (+3.7), behind only Arsenal (+7.5), Manchester City (+5.0) and Crystal Palace (+4.0).
The full alternative table shows that Crystal Palace are the most improved side compared to the same stage last season
Man United aren’t the only side with a positive points differential in comparison to the same stage last season.
Crystal Palace’s strong start to the season means they are the team with the largest improvement, with their return of 12 points serving as a nine-point improvement on last term, when they had picked up just three points from their opening seven matches.
| Team | Points after MD7 in 2024-25 | Points after MD7 in 2025-26 | Difference |
| Crystal Palace | 3 | 12 | +9 |
| Bournemouth | 8 | 14 | +6 |
| Everton | 5 | 11 | +6 |
| Tottenham | 10 | 14 | +4 |
| Manchester United | 8 | 10 | +2 |
| Wolves | 1 | 2 | +1 |
| Arsenal | 17 | 16 | -1 |
| Liverpool | 18 | 15 | -3 |
| Chelsea | 14 | 11 | -3 |
| Brighton | 12 | 9 | -3 |
| Newcastle | 12 | 9 | -3 |
| Fulham | 11 | 8 | -3 |
| Brentford | 10 | 7 | -3 |
| Manchester City | 17 | 13 | -4 |
| West Ham | 8 | 4 | -4 |
| Aston Villa | 14 | 9 | -5 |
| Nottingham Forest | 10 | 5 | -5 |
Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are the two teams with the biggest negative differential, with both sides five points worse off.
It may also be a surprise to see Man City four points worse off.
Pep Guardiola’s side are much improved on last season by all accounts, and Man City’s win against Brentford stretched their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.
Nonetheless, they actually opened the 2024-25 season in fine form, earning 17 points before their results curtailed on the back of a slew of injuries.