Just when it looked like Manchester United had turned a corner, they slumped to a 2-0 defeat to rock-bottom Watford. 

It's a good job their supporters are growing used to false dawns and dashed optimism as they go into Christmas eighth in the Premier League table. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men are 24 points behind pace-setters Liverpool and seven off the top four.

What makes that so frustrating is that when they are playing the division's top sides, United look a completely different team.

They haven't lost a single game against the big six and are the only team to take points off Liverpool all season. 

It's the likes of Watford, West Ham, and Bournemouth who seem to have got their number.

That means rather than revelling in a turnaround, like he was able to do after beating Tottenham and Manchester City, the pressure is right back on Solskjaer. 

Per The Sun, this is actually United's worst Christmas in 30 years. 

Not since 1989 have they taken such a low tally of 25 points from their opening 18 games. That year, they had 22 and sat 12th as they sat down to what one imagines was a fairly miserable roast dinner. 

It gets worse, too - guess who had won the league that year? Of course - Liverpool. 

Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister, Band Aid II was number one in the charts, and of the starting XI at Vicarage Road, not a single one of them was even born. 

The good news was that Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge. We all know how his reign turned out after a tough start, so United fans will be praying Solskjaer somehow follows in his footsteps. 

The signs are not looking good. Even David Moyes had 28 points by this stage of his solitary campaign at the then newly-christened Theatre of Nightmares. 

The Red Devils meet Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, when Solskjaer will be hoping for a festive miracle in the form of a desperately-needed three points.