Rock bottom and flying high as EPL tells us everything we need to know

FOR the first time in 40 years, Manchester United are in the relegation zone after 10 games heading into the international break.

Back then, it came after 15 games and under Ron Atkinson. The silver lining was that Atkinson got the sack and was replaced by a Scotsman by the name of Alex Ferguson.

Will the current United squad undergo the same metamorphosis once the INEOS hierarchy decides what to do with Michael Carrick?

United did not lose back-to-back games over the last seven days as the squad came back from a losing position twice.

Matheus Cunha got the winner against Roma in the Champions League while Patrick Dorgu equalised late against Aston Villa.

For two consecutive matches, United got into a hole by going down 2-0. Fortunately, with the crowd behind them, the players managed to raise their game to equalise and salvage some pride.

The problem is, why can’t the whole squad play like this from the first minute?

Why must their performance depend on what the opponents do?

You can get lucky once in a while, but eventually the luck will run out, and a battering is on the cards.

At Old Trafford, Carrick’s men worked hard to level the game before half-time after conceding two goals within five minutes.

After the restart, they fell behind twice more, putting the team under immense pressure before finding a way to share the points with Villa.

Unai Emery will rue those missed chances as his team led twice, and he is still searching for his first win against United at Old Trafford.

Tactically, Villa could have managed the game better, but perhaps the occasion got the better of them.

Will the INEOS hierarchy decide Carrick’s future during this international break? Or will they stick with Carrick through the season?

One thing is for sure: many believe United do not have the mental strength for a relegation battle because most of the players have never been there.

It takes a special group of players to fight for survival, which will be hard for players who always compete at the top.

Nottingham Forest players have been through relegation battles before, and they know what it takes to crawl out of the bottom three.

They demonstrated this on Saturday as Olivier Glasner’s men recorded a famous victory over Manchester City, lifting the team out of the bottom three and dropping United into it.

Forest pressed City from the start and were duly rewarded with two magnificent goals from Liam Delap. Glasner now hopes to build from here and ensure that Forest push into the upper half of the table.

As for City, this is Enzo Maresca’s third consecutive defeat. An unwanted record, but it shows how unbalanced the defence is.

Elliott Anderson is supposed to be the protector of the back four, but his fellow midfielders are not giving him enough support.

The balance is off, and perhaps Ayyoub Bouaddi could offer him some help in the middle of the park if Maresca insists on playing Rayan Cherki.

Maresca also needs to address the partnership of Marc Guehi and Ruben Dias, as currently, it is not as solid as it should be.

Perhaps City miss Rodri in the middle of the park, or maybe the two centrebacks are simply not the right partnership.

Much for Maresca to ponder during this international break.

As for Arsenal, they continued their good run, securing three points with just one goal. Defensively, Arsenal are still the best in Europe.

Arsenal winning 1-0 might be a boring scoreline, but in this league, three points matter.

Hull put up a good fight at the Emirates but rarely threatened as David Raya recorded another clean sheet.

Fortunately for us neutrals, Brighton are flying high in second place and giving Arsenal a run for their money in the title race.

Another routine victory against Brentford ensured Brighton remained five points behind the Gunners. Many hope the Seagulls can sustain this as City’s challenge seems to falter – the Premier League does not want to see the title decided by February.

Ten games in and the Premier League table is slowly taking shape.

After 10 games, you can see where each team belong, and both the title race and the relegation battle are slowly taking shape.

This is 2026’s last international break, and after that, the fixtures come thick and fast. If you want to fix something on the training ground, this is the time to do so.