Manchester United players pose prior the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester United and AS Roma in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)Former Manchester United player Dimitar Berbatov said that the club deserved to be in the relegation zone. This came after Nottingham Forrest had taken a 2-0 lead over Manchester City at half-time, pushing them up to 16th while United dropped to 18th with one game in hand.“The way United are playing sometimes, they deserve to be there honestly…,” Berbatov said on Saturday. United haven’t won in the Premier League since their 5-2 win over Ipswich Town in August and are currently on a 7-game winless run. They next play Aston Villa on Sunday.Last week, they lost 2-0 at Chelsea even though they were the better team before halftime at Stamford Bridge but paid heavily for not taking chances as a solo effort by Morgan Rogers and a Cole Palmer penalty after the break heaped more pressure on the visitors’ manager Michael Carrick.️ “The way United are playing sometimes, they deserve to be there honestly…”Dimitar Berbatov’s reaction as @ManUtd drop into the relegation zone ⬇️#MUFC https://t.co/lUkdXI7blI— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) November 7, 2026A horror start to the second half for United was compounded by a needless red card for defender Lisandro Martinez in conceding the 63rd-minute penalty that Palmer tucked away.Carrick has now overseen United’s longest winless run since 1988, and a fourth successive Premier League defeat means they have just seven points from their opening nine games. Despite the stark statistics, Carrick was warmly applauded by the travelling fans after the final whistle.Bruno Fernandes returned to the starting line-up as captain after being benched for last week’s defeat at Bournemouth for his critical comments about the team, and United were rejuvenated as they enjoyed the better of the first half.Things could have been so different had Matheus Cunha’s goal been allowed to stand or a host of opportunities been taken, including Amad firing over when looking odds-on to score.United’s good work unravelled after the break, however, with defender Martinez, who also criticised the club’s hierarchy, most culpable. After Rogers strolled through unopposed to dink in Chelsea’s opener, Martinez received two yellow cards in three minutes, the second for inexplicably pushing his arm into the face of Wesley Fofana at a corner, to concede the penalty.Story continues below this ad“I think I take away a lot of the positives from the first half,” Carrick said. “But the game unravelled and got away from us. It’s happened too often really so we’ve got to learn from that , and we’ve got to do something about it pretty quickly.”