Paul Pogba and Fred celebrate at Fulham

United's Premier League starts compared

Thursday 21 January 2021 13:58

Manchester United have reached the halfway stage of our 2020/21 Premier League season - and it's gone pretty well, so far!

After the 2-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage, we've now played each of the other 19 sides in the division once, winning 12, drawing four and losing three of those games.

Despite a slow start - those defeats all came within our opening half-dozen games - the Reds now sit top of the table with 50 per cent of the campaign completed, although Manchester City are just two points behind us, having played one less.

How does our tally of 40 points - a whole 12 better than this stage in 2019/20 - compare with the previous 28 completed Premier League seasons, though?

We've crunched the numbers, and there are some interesting conclusions...

90 in 20: Fulham 1 United 2 Video

90 in 20: Fulham 1 United 2

What are you waiting for? Watch the extended highlights of Wednesday’s crucial win at Craven Cottage…

In this strangest of years, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men are some way off the best starts made by United – Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1993/94 title winners picked up 52 points (albeit from their opening 21 fixtures, in a 22-team league), while the 2006/07 vintage registered 47 at the turn.

The legendary boss’s final league win, in 2013, saw us take 46 points from our first 19 matches, to help build a commanding and ultimately unassailable lead over Manchester City.

However, it may surprise you to know that the current Reds are actually further ahead than five eventual championship-winning sides at this stage, including the team which ended the 26-year-wait for top-flight honours in 1993.

Forty points is a clear improvement on six of the seven post-Sir Alex years, the exception being 2017/18, when United had 42 points – although back then City had romped ahead after dropping just four points prior to the new year.

Our current tally is also slightly up on the average of 39 points for the halfway stage of a 38-game season.

Of course, down the years, United teams have had a reputation for really clicking into gear from January onwards, often at least doubling our number of points from the first half.

If we can do the same in this most uncertain of campaigns, who knows what could be achieved by May...

UNITED’S POINTS AT THE HALFWAY STAGE OF EACH PL SEASON

1992/93 – 35* (position at halfway = 3rd, final position = 1st)
1993/94 – 52* (1st, 1st)
1994/95 – 45* (2nd, 2nd)
1995/96 – 35 (2nd, 1st)
1996/97 - 34 (4th, 1st)
1997/98 - 43 (1st, 2nd)
1998/99 - 34 (3rd, 1st)
1999/00 – 43 (1st, 1st)
2000/01 - 43 (1st, 1st)
2001/02 - 33 (5th, 3rd)
2002/03 - 35 (3rd, 1st)
2003/04 - 46 (1st, 3rd)
2004/05 - 37 (4th, 3rd)
2005/06 – 41 (2nd, 2nd)

All The Angles: Pogba v Fulham Video

All The Angles: Pogba v Fulham

Paul scored a sensational winner at Craven Cottage that we could watch over and over again...

2006/07 - 47 (1st, 1st)
2007/08 - 45 (1st, 1st)
2008/09 - 41 (3rd, 1st)
2009/10 - 40 (3rd, 2nd)
2010/11 – 41 (1st, 1st)
2011/12 - 45 (2nd, 2nd)
2012/13 - 46 (1st, 1st)
2013/14 - 34 (6th, 7th)
2014/15 - 36 (3rd, 4th)
2015/16 - 30 (6th, 5th)
2016/17 - 36 (6th, 6th)
2017/18 - 42 (2nd, 2nd)
2018/19 - 32 (6th, 6th)
2019/20 - 28 (8th, 3rd)
2020/21 – 40 (1st, ?)

*After 21 games, in 42-game season

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