Manchester United have the perfect chance to show their tactical improvements

The point of no return for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was the humiliating 5-0 defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford, but the moment it felt like his Manchester United reign had slipped to breaking point came a week earlier and a chastening defeat in the East Midlands.

United had lost their way after a good start to the season and the pressure was on during the October international break. These had always been the occasions where Solskjaer had managed to conjure up a result or a run of form that would insulate him from further scrutiny, but this time the unravelling accelerated instead.

A vital six-game stretch started in the worst possible way. The 4-2 defeat to Leicester, 5-0 thrashing by Liverpool and the embarrassing ease with which Manchester City strolled to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford all added up to signal the end for Solskjaer.

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It took the concession of another four goals at Watford to convince the Glazers and Ed Woodward that Solskjaer couldn't limp on any longer, but the downfall all began with that predictable and now-familiar defeat to Brendan Rodgers' team.

United had actually drawn level that day when Marcus Rashford made it 2-2 with 82 minutes played, but they conceded again straight from kick-off and in the final minute and in truth they were torn apart far too often by the Foxes, the concession of 22 shots a sign of things to come from an inviting defence.

But then this was hardly a new experience against Leicester City. A tactical gulf in class to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City or Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool is perhaps to be expected, but no club exposed the naivety of United like Leicester.

That victory in October was their third in a row against United,