Hull City defeated Manchester United 2-0 on Saturday, scoring twice from set pieces within 21 minutes. The promoted side, which had the joint-fewest set-play goals in the Championship last season, exploited a clear weakness in United's defence.
Set-piece vulnerability and defensive struggles
Hull scored nine league goals from set plays in 2025-26, the joint-fewest in the Championship. Yet two in 21 minutes earned them victory over Manchester United. Michael Carrick, United's manager, had warned before the game that it would not be easy, but the ease of Hull's win was unexpected. Opta rated United's chance of victory at 68.9% before kick-off, making the defeat a disastrous start to their campaign.
United struggled to deal with Hull's target man, Oli McBurnie, and defended poorly on the set pieces from which Hull scored. However, the attacking display was the greater concern.
Expected goals reveal attacking issues
Hull generated 1.01 expected goals to United's 1.83, suggesting the visitors might have deserved to win. But the breakdown of chances tells a different story. United had 21 shots, 16 of which were worth less than 0.1 expected goals. This was a theme last season, though less obvious when they performed well under Carrick. In 2025-26, United's open-play shots averaged 0.104 expected goals, the third-worst rate among top-half Premier League teams. Against Hull, this figure fell to 0.087.
Not until the 78th minute did a notable opportunity fall to a player they would expect to convert, as Bryan Mbeumo received a through ball from Matheus Cunha. Before that, their highest-value chances fell to Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui. Dorgu started in the attacking midfield trio in United's 4-2-3-1 formation, but the duo have just 16 top-flight goals between them, making them unreliable chance converters.
Back-five system causes recurring problems
Hull's manager, Sergej Jakirovic, used a back five, deploying three centre-backs on 10 occasions last season, notably in playoff victories against Millwall and Middlesbrough. The extra bodies at the back crowded out United's attackers. Opta's shot map showed Hull conceded eight efforts in the "danger zone" – the centre of the penalty area covering the width of the six-yard box out to the 18-yard line. Five of the eight were headers, which are harder to convert, leaving little else of note. Space in the most valuable areas was at a premium at the MKM Stadium.
United have now won only one of their last six league matches against teams that started with a back three or five. Leeds won 2-1 at Old Trafford in April with a 3-4-3 formation and drew 1-1 two weeks ago in a pre-season friendly using the same system. Milan also employed the framework when beating United 4-2 in their final warm-up game.
Carrick's response and forward concerns
Marcus Rashford is a far stronger option and should take Dorgu's berth in the long term, assuming he remains with the club. His natural attacking instincts may have aided in creating better chances in the first half. Regardless, it was alarming how hard United found it to fashion valuable opportunities against a club that conceded the second-most expected goals in the 2025-26 Championship.
"We got beat, we're hurt and it's not a nice feeling. It doesn't mean it's going to change the whole direction of how we're going as a team or as a football club," Carrick said. As sensible a long-term approach as that may be, United's attack needs work.
