Statistically-improving Man Utd looking for back-to-back league wins | OneFootball

Manchester United are hoping to make it two league wins in a row for the first time since the end of the 2023/24 season as they take on Brentford on Saturday.

It is remarkable that even with the Red Devils' on-field struggles last season, that they didn't manage to string two victories together in the league with what at times felt like two steps back for every step forward.

Indeed, Ruben Amorim's team have often been looking for a 'turning point' moment in their fortunes that hasn't happened but there is hope that now might be the time.

United's numbers have certainly improved even if the points tally and league position does not yet reflect that – perhaps not helped by an opening five games that have seen them face Arsenal, Manchester City, and Chelsea with a game against champions Liverpool at Anfield coming up after the October international break.

United spent big to refresh their forward line in summer with Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, and Benjamin Sesko all arriving. While Mbeumo, who will be facing his former club on Saturday, is the only one of those to score so far, the stats suggest the goals will come sooner rather than later.

No other team in the Premier League has had as many shots as Manchester United (81, ten more than Liverpool). By comparison, that's 40 more than Brentford who have had the fewest efforts so far.

However, only 22 of those 81 have been on target with West Ham (23), Chelsea (23), and Liverpool (24) managing more on-target attempts in the league.

Finishing still needs to improve then as evidenced by the 9.89 total xG, the highest in the Premier League but the xG difference of -5.98xG – the worst in Europe's big leagues.

Defensively too, United should have been performing better with only four teams (Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Wolves, and West Ham) conceding more goals than United – eight in total.

The Red Devils' backline is making 19.8 tackles per game (second behind only Wolves) and have faced only 9.2 shots per game with only four teams (Arsenal, Liverpool, Bournemouth, and Newcastle) facing fewer.

Of course, those numbers still need to translate to points on the board and Brentford have proven to be a difficult prospect for United since the Bees reached the Premier League.

As well as that famous 4-0 win over Erik ten Hag's side, the west London team also won 4-3 against United at home last time out.

That day, Amorim fielded the likes of Tyler Fredricson, Harry Amass, and Chido Obi and will now be hoping his stronger squad can at last earn back-to-back wins.