While their hopes of retaining the title are long gone, is there any way back for them in regards to a top-four spot?
Matt Brocklebank (sportinglife.com): There's only one way I see Man United finishing in the top four and that's if they act quickly and sack David Moyes. It may sound drastic to some and, hand on heart, I can't see it happening, but Moyes was the wrong choice to replace Sir Alex Ferguson in the first place and I don't see him turning it around for the Premier League title holders. Moyes spent 11 full seasons at the helm of Everton, guiding them to one top-four finish in that time, and the work Roberto Martinez has done in half a season at Goodison brings everything into perspective. You could argue Moyes is simply running up to form with his new side, but that's not good enough for a club of United's calibre so moving for a proven world-class manager with a Champions League pedigree such as Jurgen Klopp or Gus Hiddink looks the only answer to give the team a real shot in the arm. Moyes shouldn't be as big as 33/1 to be the next Premier League manager to go but they have Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Brom among their next four league games so he really should be able to steady the ship. If not, Moyes should be staring down the barrel.
Chris Hammer (sportinglife.com): No. I'm not one for blowing my own trumpet but, and some of you will just have to take my word for this, I've regularly told readers of our Football Centre clockwatch since the season began that Manchester United will massively struggle to finish in the top four and so far I couldn't have been more right. United pretty much lost the fear factor as soon as Sir Alex Ferguson left and a string of disappointing results throughout the season continues to give future opponents belief that they too can compound David Moyes' misery. Earlier in the campaign the likes of West Brom, Everton and Newcastle all registered their first Old Trafford wins in decades, while Stoke's triumph on Saturday was the Potters' first league victory over United since 1984. Nobody is scared. And they haven't been for a while now. These results now spark only laughter from non-United fans rather than any kind of shock and I'm sure there's quite a few good-hearted folk out there actually feeling rather sorry for Moyes' plight, which sums up how dramatically their domineering aura has vanished. Their latest defeat was sustained after another largely toothless display despite the presence of Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata in the side and they now find themselves seven points and three places below fourth-placed Liverpool. At this rate a Europa League place might be even out of reach and, in my view, it might not be too long before that's all they've got left to focus on.
Zacharia Amin (Sky Bet football trading): Although Manchester United suffered their eighth defeat of this season's Premier League against Stoke, they arguably had a lucky escape with Liverpool and Tottenham also dropping points away from home against lesser opposition. United are now 100/30 to claim a top-four spot, drifting slightly from 3/1 as their chances of finishing in the top four hang by a thread. This weekend's result also confirmed that United effectively have no chance of retaining their Premier League title - they are now 150/1 to win the league and are in the running to complete the biggest drop-off after winning a league title in Premier League history.