Stats show promising signs in attack for United

Stats show promising signs in attack for United

Manchester United only have four points on the board from our opening three Premier League fixtures, but there are some promising signs for Ruben Amorim’s team.

The Reds dominated without being able to recover from a Riccardo Calafiori goal in the opener against Arsenal, were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at Fulham and then defeated Burnley 3-2 at Old Trafford.

One thing that we have not been short of is shots on goal. Indeed, United are way ahead when compared to our rivals in this respect, with some free-flowing attacking ensuring plenty of threat at the sharp end of the pitch.

Bryan Mbeumo’s strike against Burnley was voted our Goal of the Month.

Opta have supplied us with the full list across the division and, while it is only a small sample size, the evidence is clear that Amorim’s men, bolstered by the acquisition of new attackers Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, are looking capable of addressing the shortage of goals last term that was a problem identified by the club.

Our tally of 58 is a remarkable 14 more than our closest challengers in this respect, Bournemouth and Chelsea.

TOTAL SHOTS IN 2025/26 PREMIER LEAGUE

58: UNITED
44: Bournemouth, Chelsea
38: Arsenal
37: Manchester City
36: West Ham United
35: Brighton & Hove Albion
34: Leeds United, Newcastle  United
33: Aston Villa, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur
31: Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland
28: Everton
27: Burnley, Wolves
26: Brentford
25: Crystal Palace

And if you are looking for signs of encouragement and improvement, ahead of the Manchester derby against City on Sunday, the 58 shots represent our best tally at this early point of a campaign since 2017/18.

In that season, we ended up finishing in second spot in the Premier League after opening with convincing wins over West Ham United (4-0), Swansea City (4-0) and Leicester City (2-0).

Again, Opta’s data indicate this is a cause for optimism, with the Etihad Stadium encounter looming large on the horizon.

UNITED’S TOTAL SHOTS IN OPENING THREE LEAGUE GAMES

2017/18: 60
2018/19: 40
2019/20: 42
2020/21: 29
2021/22: 41
2022/23: 45
2023/24: 55
2024/25: 33
2025/26: 58

Let’s hope the Reds can pile the pressure on City this weekend, who are currently 13th in the embryonic table, by continuing to carry a real threat going forwards and winning in the blue half of Manchester for the second season in a row.

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