Man United's poor starts have Premier League relegation looking more likely

Manchester United are locked in a battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League despite a dramatic 4-4 draw against Aston Villa that left England's biggest club in the bottom three and manager Michael Carrick facing the sack. United twice overturned a two-goal deficit to salvage a point, but the result extended United's winless league run to eight games - their worst-ever stretch in Premier League history - and without a league win since August.

But two goals in stoppage time by substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu denied Villa the win and ensured United avoided going into the international break on the back of three straight league defeats. Yet with United's games descending into chaos due to bad starts and late fightbacks, Carrick's failure to bring calmness and stability - and results - make him extremely vulnerable in his job.

- Mark Ogden Man United face relegation because they keep putting themselves in a hole straight away Whoever is the United manager when they next play Liverpool at Anfield later this month, the first challenge will be to stop the hugely damaging habit of starting games terribly because they face relegation if they don't. United are falling behind before games really get going, and then they wake up late and force themselves to play catch-up.

United have conceded first in 10 of 15 games this season in all competitions; three of those 10 instances were in the first 10 minutes. It happened again against Villa with Unai Emery's side 2-0 up inside five minutes at Old Trafford.

(Roma also raced into a 2-0 half-time lead in the Champions League in midweek before United pulled off an incredible fightback to win 3-2. ) No team can expect to prosper if they start games so badly on such a regular basis.

To make matters worse, United started the second half by conceding another two quick goals to surrender any hope of taking anything from the game, making United is the first team in Europe's Top 5 Leagues to concede 30 goals this season in all competitions. United are the first team to concede two goals in the first 10 minutes of each half this season in the Premier League and they are the second team in Premier League history to concede two goals in the first 10 minutes of each half, and first in the last 30 seasons to do so.

The only other instance was Manchester City in October 1995 against Liverpool in a 6-0 win by Liverpool. So if United don't sort it out, they will be in a relegation battle and they might not get out of it.

- Ogden Carrick out of his depth, and likely out of United job Michael Carrick has surely come to the end of the road as United manager after less than 12 months in charge. Snatching a point following another late fightback is a positive, but United were so bad for so long in this game that the manager must answer questions about how his team can be so easy to score against.

Manchester United are the first team in Europe's top Big Five Leagues to concede 30 goals this season in all competitions. And while a last surge prevented another defeat, the harsh reality is that United have still managed just one league win this season against Ipswich in August.