Manchester United have had a multitude of problems this season but one issue has emerged more than most this season.
In almost every game this season, Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United have struggled to put the ball in the back of the net with just 13 goals scored so far in the Premier League.
Rasmus Hojlund was signed for £64 million to try and address these problems in front of goal but the Danish striker is yet to hit the target in England’s top division.
A damning statistic has emerged which really just hammers home the problems that United have had this season in front of goal.
Expected goal underperformance
The Red Devils, as mentioned, have just 13 goals in the Premier League which is by far the lowest in the top 10 of the division.
The next lowest goals scored in the top 10 are West Ham and Chelsea who have both scored 21 goals in the league so far.
However, the club’s poor goal return is highlighted even more when you look at their expected goals tally.
According to Expected Goals (xG) website Understat, United should have scored 18 goals in the Premier League by now with the chances they have created.
Expected goals is a calculation of how likely a certain chance is to hit the back of the net. Hojlund’s miss against Luton Town last weekend, for example, was 0.70, meaning it really should have hit the back of the net.
Whereas Diogo Dalot’s brilliantly curled effort against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane a few weeks back, was just 0.02 meaning out of every 100 shots taken from that area, two would be expected to fly into the corner.
United have significantly underperformed their expected goals this season, so much so that the Red Devils are the fourth most wasteful side in the division ahead of Everton, Luton Town and Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea.
Liverpool and Manchester City, however, have overperformed their expected goals meaning they scored goals where it seemed unlikely they would do so. This is simply down to the quality of forwards they have.
Read more: Man United’s struggles in attack exposed with damning figures, major improvement neededUnited’s struggles in their front-line
The Red Devils’ struggles in front of goal has been mentioned quite often this season with Marcus Rashford remaining the only forward to have scored a goal in the Premier League so far this season.
And at Old Trafford, no forwards have scored a league goal, making Jadon Sancho the last one to do so, in the final game of last season.
Unlike City, United just don’t have that forward they can rely on week in and week out to score the goals with just the one chance he gets a game.
Hojlund is a superb striker with bags of potential but relying on a 20-year-old forward, who is still getting used to the league, was a risk. United’s goalscoring struggles really need rectifying after the international break.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/VKDtWIN