MANCHESTER, England — The most shocking thing about Manchester United's 3-1 defeat at the hands of Brighton on Sunday was that there were no surprises.

Anyone who watched the first 80 minutes of Thursday's match against Southampton, the Premier League's worst team, would have been worried about what Brighton might do at Old Trafford. In that sense, it was entirely predictable that the Seagulls left Manchester as comfortable winners.

Manchester United rallied against Southampton and won 3-1. There was no repeat of the game against Brighton and if there had been, the visitors could have secured a richer victory. They scored three goals, ruled out another via VAR and wasted a chance at the end.

Head coach Rúben Amorim has been keen to take a string of poor results on his shoulders, but this is not a new phenomenon. Brighton have won their past three games at Old Trafford under three different managers. The problem is not Amorim but the situation he inherited.

"We have to acknowledge this and not avoid the issue," Amorim said later. "Everyone here is underperforming, we are all underperforming regardless of the circumstances and have to accept that.

"Losing so many games is unacceptable. For any Premier League club, but imagine Manchester United. So it's a very difficult moment but we have to carry on, there is no other way. We need to suck it up and carry on."

The damning thing about United is that Brighton don't even need to be that good. They arrive at Old Trafford having won just one of their last nine league games. But they didn't show signs of being out of shape or feeling down, and breezed to victory.

Brighton last scored three goals in the league in October against Tottenham Hotspur, whose defense is notoriously porous.

"We're not surprised," Brighton coach Fabian Huzzele said. “We haven’t gotten the results we deserve.

"We had a very mature performance. We controlled the game and created chances. The players looked very confident on the pitch."

Brighton only needed three shots to score three goals. It helped that goalkeeper André Onana was in fine form against Southampton, with a roar that netted the visitors their third goal. Yasin Ayari sent a hopeful cross into the open target and instead of receiving the ball as usual, Onana slid out and fumbled the ball to Georginho Georginio Rutter's shot into the empty goal. That was an embarrassing summary of United's afternoon.

United had just one shot on target, a first-half penalty from Bruno Fernandes. It was the first time in nine years that they had not had a shot on goal in the aerial battle at Old Trafford.

It's another day when researchers are forced to open the record books to find out the last time United performed so poorly. The loss to Brighton was their sixth home defeat in the Premier League this season, their most in the first 12 home games of the league season in 130 years. The last time this happened was in the 1893-94 season, they weren't even called Manchester United (they were named Newton Heath) but played at the Bank Street Stadium.

Amorim has lost seven of his first 15 games in charge, the first United manager to do so since Jimmy Murphy, who took over briefly after the Munich air disaster in 1958.

"We have to understand that we are breaking all bad records," Amorim said. "The opponents are better than us in many details. It is a difficult moment and you have to admit that we are in a very difficult situation."

Since Amorim took over from Erik ten Hag in November, his side have picked up 11 points from 11 league games. They are 13th in the table, just five places and 10 points above the relegation zone. The danger is that things may get worse before they get better.

United's next five league games are against teams ranked tenth or lower in the table. If Amorim's side concede points to the likes of Fulham, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Ipswich Town over the next month, they will be closer to the relegation zone than they are now.

Mainly Manchester United's opponents. Under Amorim, United defeated Manchester City and Arsenal and drew with Liverpool, but lost comfortably to Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Wolves.

Manchester United paid tribute to Denis Law ahead of their recent humiliating defeat at Brighton. Their legendary former striker died on Friday aged 84 and a statue was erected outside Old Trafford to commemorate him, who was part of one of the club's greatest teams of the 1960s.

Amorim made it clear in his post-match press conference that what is happening now cannot be separated from the success achieved by Law and his teammates.

"We were probably the worst team in United's history," he said. "In (the last) 10 Premier League games, we have won three. We need to survive now."

This is Manchester United's position. Focus on surviving after doing what everyone expected and failing again.