Alan Shearer doubts whether Manchester United can finish in the top four this season, after analysing their ‘hopeless’ start to the season.
The former Newcastle United striker and Match of the Day pundit believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are declining after their positive finish to last term.
United finished third last season with many pundits believing they could bridge the gap to Liverpool and Manchester City. But Shearer believes they are a distance away from challenging for the league and thinks Solskjaer's men will struggle to qualify for the Champions League again.
Speaking to The Athletic Shearer provided a damning assessment of United's opening three Premier League games, which have yielded one win and two defeats.
“I wasn’t expecting them to challenge for the title anyway," he said. “I thought they would challenge for a top-four spot, but at the moment they look as if they’re going backwards.
“If you look at the three league games they’ve played, the first game against Crystal Palace they were hopeless.
“The second game at Brighton, yes they showed some character to get back into the game but they also got away with it because Brighton hit the woodwork five times.
“The third game against Tottenham, you could use whatever word you wanted and they couldn’t argue with it because it was there for everyone to see.
“And it wasn’t as if it was just because they had a man sent off; it was a shambles with 11 men as well. It was really poor.”
Shearer predicted that Liverpool and City will again compete for the league crown.
He added: "As I sit here, I don’t see anyone other than Liverpool or Man City for the title.
"What I do see as an exciting race this season is the battle for the top four. I think it will be more intense than ever."
