The positivity of their win over Chelsea in midweek evaporated within days as Manchester United suffered a chastening 3-0 defeat at home against Bournemouth, who are in the bottom half of the league table.
Manchester United have now lost eight of their opening 16 Premier League games and look a long way away from the side that finished third in the league last season and won the EFL Cup.
Sutton stressed that recent good results were a misnomer as Manchester United only managed to beat teams in the bottom half of the Premier League.
However, even that proved to be too much today and Sutton feels they could have conceded five goals against the Cherries given the level of their performance.
The former striker said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “You strip everything back, the performances haven’t been there.
“They’ve been a fortunate Manchester United this season.
“They’ve beaten sides in the bottom half of the table, up against another side from the bottom half of the table today.
“Let’s get it right, 3-0 flatters Manchester United, this could be five.”
Ten Hag will hope his side recover from his psychological blow soon as they will take on Bayern Munich and Liverpool in their next two games.
