Talk to people who have faced Manchester United this season and the reaction might surprise you. Contrary to popular perception they are not regarded as an easy touch.

“A decent side,” says one source at a club with recent success against Ruben Amorim’s team. Their view was that Manchester United have developed a habit of losing the “big moments” in games recently but that – given time – that will probably correct itself over the course of the season.

Perhaps damning them with faint praise, he reckons they can comfortably challenge for the title of “best of the rest” – edging the group who fall outside the three or four bona fide title challengers who will emerge from the pack.

They are not alone in that view. One data whizz who works for a Premier League club explains that their “true

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