Jose Mourinho has admitted that his side did not improve in the summer despite signing both Fred and Diogo Dalot for a combined fee of £80m. He has also come out and said that all the other top teams have improved, even though Spurs did not make a single singing in the summer transfer window.
Mourinho said: "The distance [between United and top four] is something I couldn't predict, you always think in a positive way, you always think the distance is not going to be so big.
"But I said clearly, last season we didn't get the credit we deserved. To finish second, to play the FA Cup final and to qualify as winners in our Champions League group - we didn't get the credit we deserved at all.
"All the teams they got better, Spurs was the team that did not make a direct investment, but the best investment is to keep the top players that you have. So every team got better and we didn't, so I was expecting difficulties for this season but my target is still the top four."
United are currently eight points off the top four, but that gap could increase to a whopping 11 points if they fall to defeat to Unai Emery’s side. A top four finish is looking increasingly unlikely whilst a top six finish is also now looking like a battle although United will go back into sixth if they bag all three points.
This will be a huge test for United who will be desperate to get back to winning ways after a tough few weeks.
