was the fourth loss in their past five home Premier League games.

They have collected 11 points in 11 league games since Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag in November.

United are 13th in the table – 10 points clear of the relegation zone but seven behind 10th-placed Fulham.

“In [the past] 10 games in Premier League, we won two,” said Amorim. “Imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United. Imagine what this is for me.

“We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that.

“We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United. I know you [media] want headlines but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that. Here you go: your headlines.”

United did equalise after conceding an early goal against Brighton.

However, rather than Bruno Fernandes’ penalty becoming a springboard for a better display, they were badly outplayed.

Kaoru Mitoma put the visitors back in front before a horrendous mistake from goalkeeper Andre Onana gifted Georginio Rutter Brighton’s third.

Is this Man Utd’s worst team in history?

When you look at the stats, Amorim was slightly exaggerating when he called his team “maybe the worst” in the club’s history. But not by a lot.

At this stage of the season, only 13 United teams have had a lower points tally in the history of the club – the last time being in 1986-87.

Here are some other stats that show how badly they are performing:

• This was United’s sixth home Premier League defeat of the season, their most from their opening 12 home matches of a league season since 1893-94.
• They have conceded the first goal in each of their past five Premier League games at Old Trafford – their joint-longest such run in the competition, also doing so five times in a row from August to October 2023.
• United have lost 10 of their 22 Premier League games this season – the earliest into a league campaign that they have hit double figures for defeats since 1989-90 under Alex Ferguson.

United have been relegated five times – most recently in 1974. It still seems unlikely that will happen this term, though Amorim did say last month it was a “possibility”.

Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman told BBC Match of the Day: “It was a really bold statement from Ruben Amorim. Their starting XI cost £391m, their five simmer signings cost £182m.

“I would not enjoy being called out like this. No one wants to be known as the worst team to ever play for the cub. He’s probably honest and on the mark.”