Eric ten Hag’s Manchester United go to Southampton on Saturday, the start of a difficult run in the league that includes trips to Crystal Palace and Aston Villa and a home match against Tottenham.

United are in a transition period, as well as dealing with injuries. But Ten Hag insisted that this cannot be used as an excuse.

United, who are still without the injured Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw, have lost their two most recent Premier League games, including a 0-3 defeat at home to Liverpool, but the manager is ignoring the criticism.

“It doesn’t impact me, I know in the process where we are and what we have to do, where we are going,” Ten Hag told a media conference.

“We are still in a transition period, we have to integrate a lot of young players, we are still dealing with injuries.

“Before anyone thinks about excuses, no, we have to win every game. I know that, the team knows this and it doesn’t matter who is available and we will focus on every game and have in every game, the mindset we have to win.”

Despite the poor results, the manager says that the team is going in the right direction.

“Of course, when you see the scores no one is happy and also the players have a very good sense of the quality of the process,” Ten Hag said.

“Also, when you analyse the games, all the games so far, we are in a good direction. When you are in a transition period and have to build the team we have to improve and step up.

“We will see where we are in May next year, it’s very early in the season.”

Ten Hag, who kept his job after an internal review in the summer, was backed in the transfer market by new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe with six signings during the window. Also, the manager was publicly supported by the hierarchy.

Backing in football, however, is conditional. Ten Hag was given the benefit of the doubt in the off-season and the opportunity to prove last year’s eighth-place finish — United’s lowest in the Premier League era — was an outlier, rather than evidence of his unsuitability to return the club to the summit of European football.

Saturday will be another test for the Dutchman.

Slot’s challenge

Liverpool have yet to allow a goal this season and Mohamed Salah has scored in each of the three games — all victories. If this is what contract distractions look like at Anfield, new manager Arne Slot is fine with it.

Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold are all in the final year of their deals, and though it’s still early in the Premier League season, Liverpool are the only team keeping pace with defending champions Manchester City.

Slot reiterated Friday that “we don’t talk about contract situations over here” — unless there’s a new deal — and said the focus is on making it four wins in a row when Nottingham Forest visit Merseyside on Saturday.

“I’m fully focused on the individuals and the team,” he said about the trio in question, “and they are part of the team and trying to work with them in the best possible way to get the best out of them. So it’s not a distraction for me at all.”

The transition from Jurgen Klopp has been seamless.

Slot is the first manager to win his first three Premier League games without conceding a goal since Sven-Göran Eriksson at Manchester City in 2007.

“It’s not the defence which keeps a clean sheet — it’s 11 players who keep a clean sheet,” Slot said. “It’s a team performance that we don’t concede and that has a lot to do with us putting in a lot of work without the ball.”

The schedule gets busy now, though, with seven games in the next three weeks. Liverpool also play at Inter Milan on Tuesday in the Champions League.

Harvey Elliott will be sidelined for several weeks because of a foot fracture, which Slot said is “a blow” for both the team and the midfielder.

Haaland hurdle

Erling Haaland’s anticipation and movement makes the Manchester City forward almost impossible to stop, Brentford manager Thomas Frank said as his side prepares to face the champions at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Haaland has been the Premier League’s top scorer for the last two seasons and the Norwegian has already netted seven goals in three matches this season, including two hat-tricks.

“Close to impossible,” Frank said when asked how he would contain the threat of the 24-year-old, who has 70 goals in 69 Premier League appearances.

“A lot of teams have tried to neutralise him. I think he’s a great player. I think his movements in the box is probably some of the best we’ve ever seen. The way he anticipates and is constantly on the move and focused and aware of where to position himself. That’s top level... he’s a decent player in the best team in the world.”