Talking Numbers: A Closer Look Into Man United’s Goalless Draw Against Wolves

Manchester United really do have their own bogey team and that is obviously Wolverhampton Wanderers. Since the club from the Molineux came back to the Premier League from the Championship, only once did United manage to get a win and even that was in an FA Cup replay match played last month. But this time that 1-0 victory did not repeat itself and United had to remain satisfied with a goalless draw.

Yesterday, we spoke about the four things we learned from Man United’s performance, but today we are going to also take a closer look into some of the numbers that give us a fresher look at things.

Man United Do Not Create Real Chances

Well, well, what a surprise. Not really. This is the single most used phrase about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team since he became the permanent manager at Man United. Once again, the Devils did not really create chances, only that one that came somehow deep into the stoppage time, but throughout, United were only able to shoot from distance when they were out of ideas.

Their collective expected goals of 0.84 tells the story quite well, with the majority of their 15 shots coming from the outside of the box. That is equivalent to an average shot worth 0.06 expected goals. Same issues again and again…

Bruno Fernandes’ Underlying Numbers

Bruno Fernandes did well last night in terms of an overall performance on his debut. He was eager to get on the ball, he was trying to make things happen and he was also doing his work off the ball, too. But then, looking at his individual numbers, that story is a bit different. Fernandes had five shots in this match, all of them coming from distance and adding up to just 0.16 goals combined.

Not only that, but his xGBuild-up, a stat that shows us how involved he was in those chances that did not result in his shots, Bruno Fernandes is at 0.00. That means that he was not part of any other chance that resulted in a shot except for those five shots. This is nothing to be concerned about or draw any conclusions after one game, but it is a rather informative storyline.

Jota’s Livelihood Apparent

Diogo Jota played on the left flank for Wolves and his game was relied heavily on his dribbling skills. He was constantly trying to create something, attempting nine dribbles throughout the match, showing that he was ready for it. That was also one of the easiest ways for Wolves to get further forward and Jota did well despite playing against Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Martial’s Poor Start To 2020 Continues

Anthony Martial did not score once again as his only league goal in 2020 came in a 4-0 win over Norwich. That is not a surprise, considering that is also the only league match in which United scored this year. Martial is being under more and more pressure and he is not getting into a lot of chances, considering what kind of structure of a team he has behind and that is not a surprise. He is still not as bad as many are trying to paint him, but there are no real signs that things are going to drastically improve, for him or the team overall.

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