Manchester United have not won five games on the bounce since February 2024.This is the case despite the passage of more than two and a half years.
No Five-In-A-Row: The Stat Haunting Manchester United
A general view of play in the rain during a Premier League 2026/27 match at Old Trafford . (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Despite having had multiple managers and squad overhauls in over two and a half years, Manchester United have failed to win five games in a row since February 2024.
When Manchester United managed to achieve such a feat, they were under the management of Erik ten Hag. The streak started on 28 January 2024 with a 4-2 FA Cup victory over Newport County away from home. Four days later, the red devils recorded an astounding 4-3 victory at Wolves. They followed up the same with a dominant 3-0 home win against West Ham United, a hard-fought 2-1 win at Aston Villa, and a 2-1 win against Luton Town where Rasmus Højlund scored both goals within a matter of minutes.
No Five-In-A-Row: The Stat Haunting Manchester United
Rasmus Hojlund of Manchester United celebrates his team's second goal — which he scored — with teammate Alejandro Garnacho, who provided the assist, during the Premier League match against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Shaun Botterill)
The streak ended on 24 February, with Fulham winning 2-1 at Old Trafford courtesy of Alex Iwobi. Five wins have eluded United ever since then.
The Four Wins Achieved Just Once
Since February 2024, United have demonstrated that they can string wins together. They have achieved runs of three consecutive wins yet the fourth win has been far more difficult to achieve.
In fact, since their last five-game winning run, United have managed to achieve four consecutive wins just once.
Their only four-game winning run was accomplished in January and February 2026 with Michael Carrick in charge of the team on an interim basis.
United started with a 2-0 derby win against Manchester City on 17 January. They followed it up with a 3-2 win against Arsenal away from home, then won 3-2 against Fulham at Old Trafford and ended their run with a 2-0 win against Tottenham on 7 February.
Four wins.
It would be the first time since February 2024 that United were just one game away from five games. BBC Sport said that it was the first four-match winning run for United since February 2024.
It was lost at the London Stadium where United drew 1-1 with West Ham and thus ended the winning streak before reaching the fifth victory in succession.
There is no denying that this result was yet another evidence proving how tough it is to make the final step.
A Drought That Survived More Than One Manager
In terms of the peculiarity of this statistic, it should be pointed out that there were a number of very different Manchester United teams during this period.
Erik ten Hag took over the team when the drought started. Ten Hag was replaced later by Ruben Amorim, while the interim managers managed the team before Michael Carrick became the manager of United.
The managers kept changing. The players kept changing. The tournaments kept changing.
The results were mostly unchanged.
There was the possibility to win a match, win another one, and sometimes three wins in a row. Yet, the winning streak never grew beyond a few victories.
For instance, Amorim experienced periods during which United looked like it might make a streak, but it failed to build a streak long enough. In January 2025, United won against Fulham in the Premier League and then Rangers and the FCBS in the Europa League, only for the run to end against Crystal Palace.
Erik Ten hag, Last Man United coach to keep a five-games winning streak. (Photo Credit; Michael Regan)
Erik Ten hag, Last Man United coach to keep a five-games winning streak. (Photo Credit; Michael Regan)
Thirteen other clubs have already done it
Since United completed their last five-games winning streak, thirteen other premier league clubs have achieved five consecutive victories with all the big six club except the red devils achieving the goal many times within the same time frame.
* Tottenham Hotspur - 3 October 2024
* Nottingham Forest - 11 January 2025
* Brighton & Hove Albion - 8 March 2025
* Crystal Palace - 29 March 2025
* Newcastle United - 16 April 2025
* Wolverhampton Wanderers - 26 April 2025
* Burnley - 3 May 2025
* Leeds United - 18 August 2025
* Liverpool - 23 September 2025
* Arsenal - 4 November 2025
* Aston Villa - 27 December 2025
* Manchester City - 27 December 2025
* Chelsea - 31 January 2026
The Haircut Challenge that Defined the Drought
Eventually, the drought became so unusual that a joke emerged in support of it among the fans of Manchester United.
Frank Ilett, who is an administrator of the social media accounts known as The United Strand, launched a challenge in October 2024: he will not cut his hair until Manchester United wins five games in a row.
Initially, the joke was a joke, but eventually, it became linked to the success of the team: every time United were close to four wins, the challenge gained more attention, and the possibility of the haircut emerged.
However, every time another draw, loss or chance slipped away from the hands of Manchester United.
Eventually, when United managed to score four victories under Carrick in February 2026, the joke had already become part of the bigger picture.
The fact that a failure of a football club to secure five victories in a row can become the subject of a social media challenge proves just how persistent the statistic is.
The Wait Continues
No Five-In-A-Row: The Stat Haunting Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United reacts with dejection following Manchester United's Carabao Cup third-round defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on September 16, 2026. (Photo by MB media)
The drought has now moved into another season.
United entered the 2026/27 campaign hoping for a fresh start under Carrick, but the opening weeks have again provided mixed results. A win over Ipswich was followed by a draw against Everton and a defeat to Manchester City in the league, while United were also eliminated from the Carabao Cup by Brighton after surrendering a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2.
Once again, the club has been unable to turn a sequence of results into the kind of sustained winning run that would bring the fifth victory into view.
That does not mean another five-game run cannot happen. It simply means the drought has lasted long enough to become a genuine feature of United’s recent history.