Rio Ferdinand is ‘not seeing wins’ in the near future for Manchester United.
The Red Devils slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday thanks to James Maddison’s first-half strike.
Ferdinand has a rather bleak outlook for United given their upcoming fixtures[/caption]
It marked Ruben Amorim‘s eighth Premier League defeat from 14 games in charge and left his side languishing in 15th on 29 points.
The thought of United being in a relegation scrap seemed unthinkable at the start of the season and, in some sense, still does.
At present, United remain 12 points clear of 18th-placed Ipswich Town.
But Ferdinand’s grim prediction means the threat of relegation may become frighteningly real in a matter of matches.
“Only Wolves and West Ham separate my club from the relegation places,” Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.
“Do you realise we’re that close? Someone said we need 11 points just to stay up.
“I’ve got the fixture list: Everton away, Ipswich at home, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest away.
“Before hosting Man City, and going to Newcastle away, and then Wolves, Bournemouth, Brentford, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Leicester.
“The only place I see us getting anything — and I’m not even saying a win — is Leicester.
“I’m not seeing wins. That’s the problem.”
A win on Saturday would lift United above Everton in the table but the Toffees are unbeaten in their last five league matches, picking up four wins in that space.
However, should United lose and West Ham produce an unlikely win over Arsenal on Saturday, the Red Devils would drop down to 16th.
If a daunting run of fixtures isn’t enough to dampen the mood at Old Trafford, the loss of star duo Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo to injury adds to the concern.
Diallo sustained ankle ligament damage during a training session and Amorim believes the Ivorian will be out for the remainder of the season.
The 22-year-old is the Red Devils’ top scorer in the league with a tally of six and had improved significantly under Amorim.
Mainoo initially missed the trip to north London with a muscular injury although Amorim, speaking after the loss to Tottenham, was unsure how long he would be without the midfielder.
However, the United boss expects to be without Mainoo for the trip to Everton on Saturday.
Also absent from the Tottenham loss were Leny Yoro, Christian Eriksen, Toby Collyer and Manuel Ugarte.
Amorim confirmed Yoro and Eriksen were ill and needed time to recover.
He also pointed to Eriksen’s heart condition as a reason why they must be ‘really careful’ with his return to play, stating the Dane’s ‘heart rate just has to be controlled because he has a fever.’
