The FPL half-term report: Manchester United

All 20 Premier League clubs’ seasons so far are analysed as the countdown to the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) restart continues.

In this Half-Term Report series, we look at which FPL players and teams have excelled – and who has flopped – in the first three months of the season.

FPL bosses get unlimited transfers before Gameweek 17, so these articles will hopefully help you pinpoint some key targets for the Boxing Day resumption.

Here, we focus on fifth-place Manchester United, who have gained more Premier League points than all teams bar Arsenal over their last 14 matches.

ATTACK: SEASON SO FAR

Of the teams who are forming a big part of FPL restart squads, Manchester United’s underlying numbers are one of the most underwhelming in an attacking sense.

They’ve scored exactly half the goals that their cross-city rivals have, while they’re a distant eighth for minutes per xG and only narrowly ahead of Brentford and Fulham.

Above: How Man Utd compare to other Premier League sides for minutes per NPxG across 2022/23 (click to expand)

For those of us hoping that United assets can put Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Bournemouth to the sword in Gameweeks 17-19, let it be known that the Red Devils have not scored more than two goals in a match against a side outside of the ‘big six’ under Erik ten Hag.

The below numbers are decidedly Solksjaer-esque, with United seemingly more at ease facing big-six opponents:

In fairness to ten Hag, he’s not only had injuries to Antony (£7.5m) and Anthony Martial (£6.7m) to contend with but also a complete nose-dive in form from Jadon Sancho (£7.1m) and the pouting, plodding presence of Cristiano Ronaldo (£10.2m).

With Martial and Antony fit again, and with Ronaldo off the books for good, perhaps we can now see more of the youthful swagger we observed in pre-season, especially against sides United should really be beating comfortably.

Above: Man Utd’s attacking stats at home (left) and away (right). The figures given are per game.

United’s stats at home and away are remarkably similar, incidentally, with their xG tallies per game identical.

DEFENCE: SEASON SO FAR