In Europe, Manchester United are flying but their defeat to Arsenal at the weekend revealed more painful Premier League stats about the faltering Red Devils.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second-half penalty proved to be the winner as the Gunners claimed their first Premier League win at Old Trafford since 2006.
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The spot-kick was the fifth United have conceded in their last seven Premier League matches at home – the previous five coming over a 101-match period.
But more worryingly for United, they’re still waiting for a first top-flight win at home this season having not picked up three points in any of their four clashes yet.
The last time they failed to achieve that was in 1972/73, a season that saw them finish 18th. They were then relegated from the First Division the following year.
Perhaps what’s most worrying is the fact they’ve taken just seven points from their opening six league matches this season. It’s their lowest tally since the 2013/14 season, when David Moyes was in charge of the club.
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But have Man United been that bad this season? talkSPORT.com has taken a look at the more in-depth stats of FBref to see where it’s all gone wrong for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer so far this term.
In order to measure how good or bad 15th-placed Man United’s Premier League stats really are, we’ve decided to compare them to Liverpool as they are currently top of the table and that is where the Red Devils should be aiming for.
It should be noted that Liverpool have played one more league match this season but few would dispute they are the better attacking side. They’ve scored 17 goals to Manchester United’s nine in the league this term.
They also have an established front three in Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, while Diogo Jota has been in good form in lately. Manchester United’s front line is still finding its feet in its bid to become a formidable strike force and they’ve not been helped by the fact Anthony Martial got a three-match ban for raising his hands at Erik Lamela last month.
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And FBref’s more in-depth stats clearly demonstrate Liverpool to be superior in every attacking department, most notably possessing more than double expected goals per 90 minutes than the Red Devils in 2020/21.
In defence is where it gets interesting though. A lot has been said about whether Man United are good enough in that area, while Liverpool will probably be without star centre-back Virgil van Dijk for the rest of the season.
Comparing Man United with Liverpool has inadvertently worked quite well as both sides suffered humiliating defeats on the same day, as United lost 6-1 at home to Tottenham, while the champions were hit for seven by Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp’s men have also conceded 15 goals this season two more than United.
And there are more areas where Man United come out on top with more tackles per 90 minutes, more tackles in he defensive third, more pressures in the defensive third, more blocks, more interceptions and fewer errors leading to an opponent’s shot.
But it’s the tackles in defensive and attacking thirds as well as the pressures in defensive and attacking third stats which reveal why there’s such a difference between the two sides.
Man United make more tackles and pressures on opponents in the defensive third than Liverpool but the Reds are much higher in the tackles and pressures on opponents in an attacking third.
Jurgen Klopp’s ‘Gegenpressing’ is no secret and has undoubtedly been crucial towards Liverpool becoming one of the world’s best sides.
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These stats suggest that there’s not much wrong with the United defenders. However, Liverpool are clearly set up better.
Winning the ball in the attacking third not only relieves the pressure on the defenders but it will also inevitably lead to more opportunities to score.
Liverpool clearly have more quality in attack but what’s more impressive is how Salah, Mane and Firmino work for the team.
To a man, United’s defence are similar to that of Liverpool’s but they look worse because they’re significantly more busy defending than their rivals.
The cliche teamwork makes the dream work has never been more apt.
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