Manchester United target Erik ten Hag's surprising record against English sides

Erik ten Hag is Manchester United's preferred managerial candidate as they continue to look for a permanent successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, though his record against English clubs isn't particularly great.

His Ajax team have faced Premier League opposition on six occasions but only once has Ten Hag ended up on the winning side. The Dutch club were famously denied a Champions League final meeting with Liverpool in 2019 when Tottenham produced a stunning semi-final comeback while Mauricio Pochettino - who is also heavily linked with the Old Trafford job - was in charge of the north Londoners.

After winning the first leg at Spurs courtesy of a Donny van de Beek strike, Lucas Moura stunned the Johan Cruyff Arena when he completed his hat-trick with almost the last kick of the tie to knock Ajax out on away goals - this came after the hosts had gone 2-0 up on the night.

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The following season, they met Chelsea in the Champions League group stage and fell to a 1-0 defeat in their home game. Fans that travelled to Stamford Bridge for the reverse witnessed another fightback by an English club, with Chelsea coming back from 4-1 down to draw 4-4 after two Ajax players were sent off.

Ten Hag continued his poor run against English sides with two 1-0 losses to Liverpool in last season’s Champions League. Those results leave the Dutchman with a win rate of just under 17 per cent against English top-flight clubs.

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