Manchester United lead the league for ‘big chances missed’ | OneFootball

Manchester United are languished in 11th place in the Premier League following yesterday’s disappointing defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium.

However, Erik ten Hag’s side do lead the league in one specific statistic – most big chances missed – and it goes some way to explaining their current position in the table.

United have missed six ‘big chances’ across their opening two games of the season. Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur are joint second with five while league leaders Manchester City have missed only two.

The opening day win against Fulham came courtesy of a late winner from new signing Joshua Zirkzee on the Dutch forward’s debut. This timely goal had been proceeded by a number of gilt-edged chances going by the wayside, however, and United should have ran out comfortable victors far before the eventual winner was scored.

And while the 2-1 loss to Brighton was not as dominant a performance, there were still sufficient chances at crucial moments to have led to a win; or, at a minimum, a sharing of the points with a draw. Going into this weekend’s derby against bitter rivals Liverpool off the back of a hard-fought draw would be a subtle, but important, difference in mood for the United squad.

Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho lead the way with two big chances missed, while Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo share one each. No other player in the Premier League has missed more than Fernandes or Garnacho.

Against Fulham, United’s missed chances stemmed from poor finishing. In yesterday’s defeat against Brighton it was a case of an inability to stay onside at the crucial moments, combined with a lack of clinical edge. The combination points to a forward line lacking the required proficiency in front of goal to consistently convert chances.

United scored twice against Brighton but twice saw these efforts ruled out for offside.

If Rashford had been able to hold his run in the first-half, United could have gone in at half-time level. If Zirkzee hadn’t slid in as Garnacho converted Fernandes’ cross from a textbook counter-attack, United would have gone 2-1 up heading into the final stages of the game. And with a lead in the 95th minute, the players would not have swarmed forward after defending Brighton’s cross and, consequently, not left the space they did for Joao Pedro to steal all three points for the Seagulls in heart-breaking fashion.

Small margins, but crucial ones within elite football.

Ten Hag’s team ranks second for ‘most offsides‘ in the league with 9; only Everton have racked up more with 11. The Toffees, along with the other three representatives of the top five – Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town – have combined for one solitary point between them, courtesy of Leicester’s 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur.

While it’s myopic to attribute United’s early struggles solely to their attacker’s inability to stay onside, it does speak to an underlying issue in the final third of the pitch which was present last season where the club ranked second for most offsides again.

Ruud van Nistelrooy is reported to be holding “one-on-one sessions” with Rashford in a bid to improve the 26-year-old’s striking habits and instincts. Based on the opening two games of the season, the Dutch assistant coach should be extending the invites to these sessions to every member of Ten Hag’s attacking unit.

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