Michael Carrick calls the defending a collective problem. The table says Manchester United have not finished a Premier League game this season without conceding.
Manchester United play Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday 20 September 2026, kick-off 16:30 in the UK and 11:30 in Toronto, per Last Word on Sports and ESPN's match page.
They arrive 13th on four points from four games, having scored seven and conceded seven, per the Sky Sports Premier League table and ESPN's own results list, both read on the morning of the match. The four: Hull City away, lost 0-2 on 22 August; Ipswich Town at home, won 5-2 on 30 August; Everton away, drew 2-2 on 6 September; Manchester City at Old Trafford, lost 0-1 on 13 September. Both lists agree on all four scorelines. Manchester United have not kept a Premier League clean sheet this season.
Asked about the goals conceded at his pre-Fulham press conference, Michael Carrick said: "Yeah, it's certainly not the start we wanted. We need to improve, no doubt, as a team collectively, it's not just a backline or certainly a goalkeeper, it's a collective thing." The Peoples Person's full transcript and Yahoo Sports UK both carry the answer in those words.
He was also asked about Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven after Wednesday night. "I thought they started really well actually in the game. I thought we started really well, so it's not about them," he said, per the same transcript.
Wednesday was the Carabao Cup third round, and it is the game the question came from. Manchester United led Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 inside ten minutes through Shea Lacey in the eighth minute and Mason Mount in the tenth, then lost 3-2 to goals from Charalampos Kostoulas on the stroke of half time, Pascal Gross in the 65th minute and Maxim De Cuyper in the 69th. ESPN's match report and the Associated Press account by James Robson agree on the scorers and the minutes. The Associated Press adds that it is a second consecutive season of elimination at the earliest stage.
Opta's figure, carried by ESPN and by Goal: it was the first time in 50 years that Manchester United had lost a home game after leading by two goals. The last one was a 3-2 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in September 1976.
Fulham have taken one point from their own opening four under Alvaro Arbeloa, per Last Word on Sports and The Hard Tackle's match preview. Team news on both sides is contested across Sunday morning previews, with Benjamin Sesko described as a doubt by one and as a probable starter by another, so this page carries none of it.