Manchester United Epic Fail Specials 2020/21

Manchester United's start to 2020/21 has been horrific. A 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford to Crystal Palace was followed by the exceptionally fortunate 3-2 result over Brighton & Hove Albion, where Bruno Fernandes bagged after the final whistle was blown, with compliments to VAR.

A week later, the club fell to their worst post-Sir Alex Ferguson defeat with a 6-1 loss at home to Tottenham Hotspur, only for the angst and anger to rise to a new level a day later, with a bitter end to the transfer window.

Now, with Edinson Cavani on board, things are not exactly looking like being very merry as we head towards Christmas and for this, Paddy Power have pulled through again with the United Epic Fail Specials for 2020/21.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is arguably the most under-pressure manager in world football right now, with United currently looking like struggling to break the top six, rather than build on their third-place finish last season.

The Norwegian has, however, undoubtedly moved the club forward following Jose Mourinho's torrid end at Old Trafford, achieving three semi-finals and their second-highest Premier League finish post-Fergie.

But now, with Solskjaer's bucket list of players still pinned on Ed Woodward's to-do list, the end could be near for United's manager, if results do not change. With this said, Paddy Power price Solskjaer at 1/2 to no longer be the club's manager come Christmas day, whilst he is a higher 9/4 to be sacked before the end of October.

The one United fans probably have an eye on the most: the future of the notorious Woodward.

Woodward was given charge of the club's commercial and media operations in 2007, to which he was a great success in using United's extraordinary on-field success to increase the club's commercial revenue from £48.7 million in 2005, to £117.6 million, just seven years later.

However, since the retirement of David Gill and Ferguson, Woodward - practically by default - became the new chief executive, not long after the Red Devils bagged a record 20th title. Now, seven years into the role, the controversial CEO has failed to take the club forward with disastrous transfer dealings, which have inevitably resulted in the casualties of three managers.

Paddy Power are giving odds of 11/4 for Woodward to no longer be a United employee at the end of the season. However, this looks like a tough one.

Woodward is very pally with the infamous Glazer family, as he was the advisor during the takeover of the club 15 years ago. At the same time, despite popular belief, Woodward does actually make United a lot of money, which, of course, pleases the owners year on year.

Although, much of the increased revenue each season comes as a result of such disastrous transfer dealings and Woodward's refusal to spend money like United's competitors.

It does seem as if the only way to end the toxicity of the Woodward era is for the fans to unite, because from a business standpoint, he's going nowhere.

Despite not signing Jadon Sancho and other reported Solskajer targets like Jack Grealish, United have still improved their squad this summer, no questions asked.

Donny van de Beek will bring much-needed squad depth for the Champions League with his versatility, whilst Alex Telles and Cavani no doubt bolster their respective positions at the club.

Cavani, Paris Saint-Germain's all-time top scorer, is priced at 25/1 to not register a single assist or goal during this Premier League season, something he has never done within the a sole season of his stellar career. In fact, the Uruguayan's lowest recorded tally is two goals in seven appearances, when he was just a teenager at Palermo.

The United striker has also netted at least 25 goals in each season since his move to Napoli in 2011, whilst much of this time was spent on the wing, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic occupied the striker role.

At the same time, in all of this, the club's new left-back, Telles, is priced at 14/1 to be playing for a Serie A club for the 2021/22 season, just as Bruno Fernandes is priced at 10/3 to leave before the start of next season.

Despite all the horror at Old Trafford in 2020, Solskjaer and co. are still in the Champions League once more, but, they do perhaps sit in the 'group of death' if any were to be labelled one.

Whilst Juventus and Barcelona will meet in another, the two gargantuan clubs won't face much of a test from the other two outfits in there - Dynamo Kyiv and Ferencvaros - making United's Group H arguably the toughest.

İstanbul Başakşehir, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig will make up the other three names for the Red Devils, and the lack of fans in the away grounds may perhaps dilute the competition more so, especially for the Turkish outfit, Başakşehir.

However, you can get odds of 9/1 for the club to finish bottom of Group H, 12/1 not to win a single Champions League match, whilst there are also the 5/1 odds for United to finish outside of the top half of the Premier League.