No more excuses! Man Utd must put together a winning run amid favourable fixture list or Erik ten Hag will be on thin ice

United's first game back is at Sheffield United, who are bottom of the Premier League. Ten Hag talked up the Blades' quality ahead of the visit to Bramall Lane by pointing to their last-gasp defeats to Manchester City and Tottenham. He said: "Every game in the Premier League is difficult, if you have seen their results against City and Spurs, they were very narrow wins. If you don't play your best football, you can have a loss."

However, the fact is this is a fixture United cannot afford to not win. Paul Heckingbottom's side are not just bottom of the table, they are on course for a historically bad campaign. They have picked up just one point from eight matches, taking an average of 0.13 points per game.

That puts them on track to surpass the worst-ever points total in the history of the Premier League. That accolade currently belongs to Derby County, who ended the 2007-08 season on 11 points, an average of 0.28 points per game.

They have shipped 22 goals, giving them by far the worst defensive record in the league, while they have the second-worst attack in terms of goals scored. And while they may have put on brave displays against Spurs and City, they were annihilated 8-0 at home by Newcastle and well beaten by West Ham and Fulham among others. United don't have to win pretty, as they showed at Burnley, but they simply have to take three points.

Next up is a truly must-win game in the Champions League at home to Copenhagen. United have made their worst-ever start to a group stage by losing to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray and trail the Turkish champions, who look like being their biggest rival for second spot, by four points. But they have a glorious chance to make that deficit up thanks to back-to-back fixtures against Copenhagen, while Galatasaray's squad of ageing former stars play Bayern twice.

Copenhagen will be no pushovers and took the lead in both of their two matches. They threw away a two-goal advantage to draw at Galatasaray and spurned a second-half lead at home against Bayern, going on to lose 2-1. That suggests they have trouble seeing games out and if United can keep pushing them, they might cave in.

It will be an extra special game for Rasmus Hojlund, who began his professional career with Copenhagen. His two younger brothers, Emil and Oscar, remain in their academy. Hojlund caused real problems for Galatasaray only for his two goals to be undone by shocking defending by Victor Lindelof, Sofyan Amrabat and an unforgivably sloppy pass by Andre Onana.

United must learn from those mistakes because if they fail to win then they will edge closer yet to a humiliating group stage exit and be on track to finish bottom of the group, therefore also missing out on the Europa League.

It seems strange to say it, but the derby against City on October 29 is the game that United will be under least pressure to win. While any victory against their local rivals will always be welcome, a draw or a narrow defeat to Pep Guardiola's side would not necessarily land Ten Hag in hot water, provided that his side win their other matches.

And one week out from the derby, City actually look like they are in a bit of trouble. They have lost three of their four league matches and it's not just the results. They have lacked their usual creativity in their last few outings, not helped by the suspension of Rodri or the long-term injury to Kevin De Bruyne.

Against Arsenal, they had just four shots, their lowest total in a game for 13 years. Erling Haaland is also looking out of sorts, failing to score in his last three outings for City and having just one shot in his last two league games.

City will also have less time to prepare for the game as they have to visit Young Boys in Switzerland on Wednesday.

With 70,000 fans behind them at Old Trafford, United could pull off a surprise result, as they did last season, which would really turn the mood.

The Carabao Cup fixture with Newcastle is perhaps the least pressing of United's next fixtures and, in the grand scheme of things, a defeat to last season's runners-up and elimination from the fourth most important competition would not matter that much.

Ten Hag, however, earned lots of good will from winning the competition last season and seems determined to successfully defend it. He picked a strong team in the third round against Crystal Palace, quite unlike the Eagles, who avenged their 3-0 defeat by shocking United in the league four days later with their full-strength side.

While he will rest a few players, Ten Hag will still be keen to progress to the quarter-finals. But defeat need not knock United further off kilter.

If they can beat Copenhagen at Old Trafford then a draw in the Danish capital would just about be acceptable in the return Champions League game, but all three points must be the target at Craven Cottage in the next league game against underperforming Fulham, given how much ground United have to make up on their rivals if they are to finish in the top four.

Their next priority should be getting a statement win at home to Luton in their final game before the next break. The Hatters, who have a ramshackle ground sitting between terraced houses and shot from non-league football to the Premier League in the space of nine years, are a welcome addition to the top flight and bring back memories of Blackpool's one-season adventure in the elite.

But United cannot afford to swayed by any romanticism when they welcome them to Old Trafford and should be aiming for nothing less than three points. They should really be aiming for a thrashing or at least to eclipse their biggest win under Ten Hag, which remains the 4-1 victory over Chelsea last May.

United should be aiming for a minimum of nine points from their four Premier League games against Sheffield United, City, Fulham and Luton and at least four in their Champions League clashes with Copenhagen. The Carabao Cup tie with Newcastle should be seen as a free hit.

If United can hit that target then Ten Hag will retain the backing of the majority of fans and the club hierarchy. But if he falls short and the Red Devils remain around the middle of the Premier League table or below it, then the small number of voices doubting his capabilities will grow louder.

While the manager insists there is a great spirit among his team, the body language of some players suggests otherwise, as do the creeping number of stories leaking out about some players' disquiet over his treatment of Sancho.

The best way to quieten down the dissenting voices is by winning matches and, apart from City and Newcastle, the manager could hardly ask for a better run of fixtures than the ones coming up.

A lot of fans and pundits have given him the benefit of the doubt amid horrendous luck with injuries and a difficult run of fixtures, but now players are coming back and the games are getting easier. It's time to sink or swim.