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“We are in quite a good position,” said Erik ten Hag. In itself, the statement may have been an indication of how standards have slipped at Manchester United. Given United are sixth, it scarcely meets Sir Alex Ferguson’s definition of quite good. And yet there was a logic to Ten Hag’s comments. United have not been expelled from top-four contention. They can look down on Newcastle and Chelsea in the table, though the Tynesiders are entitled to feel their performance level has been considerably higher than United’s; the Londoners may think that, too. Tottenham have been hailed as early-season revelations but are now only five points ahead of United’s underachievers. Ten Hag argued the context made United’s decidedly mixed start better than it has often appeared. He noted that they have won four of their last five league games. “If you see all the trouble we had, we are in a very good position,” he insisted. “That is a reason to be optimistic.” But do the grounds for optimism extend beyond that? Ten Hag is entitled to imagine a rosier future with his strongest team. Luke Shaw may be back soon, giving him a high-class left-back. Yet Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez may not feature again in 2023 – and without the Argentinian, it seems as though Raphael Varane is not in his preferred line-up either – and now United are waiting to see if Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund will join them on the treatment table. The £72m striker has no Premier League goals but, with Anthony Martial his understudy, appears irreplaceable nonetheless. The counter-argument is that United’s league position flatters them. It is in part a product of an inability to draw, rewarding them in games of all or nothing, but their five defeats may be more telling than the seven wins. Thus far, the fixture list has been friendly: seven of their 12 games have been at home. None of their victories have come against the current top eight. They have played all three promoted teams and most of the stragglers. The seven matches to take them to the half-way point are against in-form Everton, then Newcastle, Chelsea, Bournemouth, Liverpool, West Ham and Aston Villa. United, yet to prove they can beat top teams, looking fallible against the mid-table outfits, risk slipping down the standings. Indeed, those seven victories have all come by a lone goal; fine margins may have benefited them and their expected points total, of 16.32, is far lower than their actual haul of 21, putting them below Brentford and Everton in that particular chart. United have a sole truly dominant performance to their name this season, against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup. And issues abound across the team. A third of the way into the campaign, United have 13 league goals, three fewer than Wolves, under half Villa’s total. Ridiculously, United have just one from a forward. Perhaps it means individual droughts will soon become floods. “Rasmus Hojlund scored five goals in the Champions League,” Ten Hag noted. “[Marcus] Rashford scored 30 goals last season.” Now he has one. If Rashford was United’s player of the year last season, and there were several other compelling candidates, now there are too few. Halt the campaign now and the frontrunners for the Sir Matt Busby award might be Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay: men who have revived their United careers, but two who the club were willing to sell at the right price. Arguably no one else has played well enough to merit a mention. United’s season scarcely shows a strategy that is about to pay off with spectacular improvement. Ten Hag’s bench for Saturday’s win over Luton contained two of his flagship signings year summer, in Sofyan Amrabat and Mason Mount, each now behind McTominay in the queue for places in a midfield without the injured Casemiro, plus his biggest buy, in the eternally disappointing Antony. Rashford played on the right wing, his third best position; none of this seemed part of Ten Hag’s summer blueprint, just as his summer spending spree is yet to reap a dividend. Ten Hag’s makeshift line-ups stem from injuries – it is quicker to name the United players who have not missed games than those who have – but also from shifts in thinking, from desperate searches for a winning formula. His defence has been decimated and Ten Hag would say that affects the attack, both in terms of the continuity and understanding that bring routines, and with Shaw and Martinez’s ability to pass out from the back. Defensively, though, there are other difficulties. Unconvincing as Andre Onana has been, his worst errors have been confined to the Champions League. It can feel odd to see that, while sometimes conceding in damning fashion, he has one of the highest save percentages in the Premier League. Go by expected goals and United should have conceded more. Again, the numbers suggest they are poorer than the table indicated. In short, it could have been worse. And it could get worse. This should have been the easy part. In their last 12 matches in all competitions, United have had a Manchester derby but each of the other 11 would have been winnable for the team of last season. This year, they lost five of 12. Now, as the fixture list gets ominous, Ten Hag thinks United could get better. He may be right but, apart from the prospect of players returning to fitness, the last three months offer too few other reasons for optimism. “Quite a good position” could get become what is definitively a bad one. Read More Harry Maguire reveals how he reclaimed Man Utd place: ‘I had to be patient’ Man United can ‘make life easy by scoring goals’, says Erik ten Hag after Luton win Ten Hag to serve one-match ban after third booking for Manchester United Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag urges team to become more clinical Man United produce the bare minimum to avoid embarrassment against Luton Man United v Luton LIVE: Result and reaction from crucial Premier League clash

Breece Hall bullied his way into the end zone during the second quarter Sunday night, and it appeared the New York Jets’ touchdown drought was over

The Los Angeles Lakers overcame LeBron James’ injury absence for a 116-110 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers Anthony Davis had 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Rui Hachimura scored eight of his 19 points in the final 3:43

Host India, five-time champion Australia and long-time title contenders South Africa and New Zealand have navigated the five-week first phase of the Cricket World Cup to reach the semifinals

The long group stage of the Cricket World Cup is over and four teams remain in the running for the title

Josh Jacobs rushed for 116 yards, Aidan O’Connell connected with fellow rookie Michael Mayer for the game’s only touchdown, and the Las Vegas Raiders improved to 2-0 under interim coach Antonio Pierce, beating the New York Jets 16-12

Anthony Edwards scored 33 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves overpowered the Golden State Warriors 116-110 for their sixth straight victory

Football will pay tribute to one of its biggest stars on Monday as the game bids farewell to Sir Bobby Charlton. Fans and members of the public have been invited to play their part in a celebration of the World Cup-winner’s life and glittering career before a private funeral service at Manchester Cathedral. Thousands are expected to line the streets as the funeral cortege arrives at Old Trafford, where he is commemorated along with former team-mates Denis Law and George Best in the “United Trinity” statue, from Chester Road at around 1.30pm. The cortege will pass through a guard of honour comprising members of the club’s Under-18 and Under-21 squads and the statue before setting off for the cathedral via the A56, Trinity Way, Chapel Street and Victoria Bridge. Around 1,000 invited guests, including Sir Alex Ferguson, members of the club’s 1968 European Cup-winning team, players from the current first-team squad and leading sporting figures, are expected to attend the service, which is scheduled to start at 2pm and will be led by Canon Nigel Ashworth. The ceremony, which will not be filmed or broadcast, will include eulogies and tributes from former United chief executive David Gill, former Manchester United Foundation chief executive John Shiels and a personal tribute from Charlton’s family. Hymns will include Abide With Me, which is traditionally sung before the FA Cup final, Jerusalem and a rendition of How Great Thou Art by opera singer Russell Watson. The Charlton family and Manchester United would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and respect towards Sir Bobby Manchester United statement A United statement read: “It is expected that up to 1,000 guests will attend the cathedral to pay their respects to Sir Bobby and celebrate his incredible life as a husband, father, grandfather and, of course, as one of the finest footballers this country has ever produced. “The Charlton family and Manchester United would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and respect towards Sir Bobby.” The family has requested donations in lieu of flowers to a series of charities close to Charlton’s heart, the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation, the Children’s Adventure Farm Trust, the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s UK. The Ashington-born midfielder, who made 758 appearances and scored 249 goals for the Red Devils in a glittering 17-year playing career, died at the age of 86 last month. He survived the 1958 Munich Air Disaster which claimed the lives of eight of his fellow Busby Babes and went on to win the World Cup with England in 1966 alongside older brother Jack and the European Cup with United two years later. Charlton returned to the club with which he had made his name as a director in 1984 and continued to serve both it and football in general as a much-admired ambassador until his latter years. His stature in the game was reflected in the tributes which poured in after the news of his death was announced. Ferguson, who guided the club back to the pinnacle of European football under his watchful gaze, described him as a “tower of strength” during his 26-year spell at the helm. In a eulogy published in the matchday programme ahead of the derby against Manchester City, Ferguson wrote: “It’s no surprise to me that we’ve seen tributes to Sir Bobby from everywhere in the world, on every TV channel and in every newspaper, because he was without question the greatest English player of all time. “People loved him because of all those thunderbolt goals, but it was more than that. My dad used to say that humility in success is a sign of greatness, and that was Bobby. “He never used to boast about his own achievements; it was always about the team and the club.”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Jalen Williams had 31 and the Oklahoma City Thunder used a big fourth quarter to beat the Phoenix Suns 111-99 on Sunday night

Frank Vatrano scored twice in the first period and the Anaheim Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1

Sam Howell showed more signs Sunday that he may be the long-term answer at quarterback for the Washington Commanders

Alexis Lafreniere’s second goal of the game tied it with 11 seconds left in regulation, and then he had the only scored in the shootout as the New York Rangers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3