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13 incredible stats behind Man Utd’s Martial-Rashford-Greenwood frontline

Anthony Martial was the hero with a hat-trick in Manchester United‘s 3-0 win over Sheffield United – but he certainly hasn’t been the only forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can rely on this season.

Martial put Solskjaer’s men ahead after just seven minutes on Wednesday night when he converted a driven cross from Rashford – and the Frenchman thought he had returned the favour when he squared the ball for Rashford to pass into an empty net, only for his strike partner to screw the ball wide.

It was left to Martial to make it 2-0 when he converted another low cross from the right, this time from Aaron Wan-Bissaka, just before half-time, but the best was saved ’till last when Martial cooly lofted over Simon Moore after another assist from Rashford to finish a fine move which also involved 18-year-old Mason Greenwood.

It may be a while before the three forwards are providing the kind of numbers which saw Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez score 79 goals between them in 2007-08, but seeing them all on the pitch from the start – with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba behind – will have United fans excited by what the team could achieve next season.

And after Martial became the first player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League for United since Robin van Persie in 2013, here are some stats to back that excitement up.

– Martial has now scored 14 Premier League goals this season, three more than his previous best (2015-16) with seven games still to play.

– With 19 goals in all competitions, this is also now the best overall season of Martial’s career, beating the 17 he managed in his first season at Old Trafford (2015-16).

– Martial has scored six of his Premier League goals in the seven games since United signed Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon.

– Martial’s longest streak without scoring in the Premier League this season is four games, another best since he joined the club.

– He has scored his 14 league goals from 25 appearances at a rate of one every 146 minutes. You guessed it: that’s another best for him at Old Trafford.

– Though he did not score on the night, Rashford remains United’s joint-highest goalscorer in both the Premier League and all competitions with 14 and 19 respectively.

– Furthermore, his two assists moved him to six for the season in the Premier League – a joint squad-high with Daniel James.

– Rashford has been particularly dangerous at Old Trafford, directly contributing to 13 goals in 12 Premier League appearances at HQ this season with 10 goals and three assists.

– Rashford has scored at an almost identical rate to Martial in the Premier League, having played nine minutes more, with a ratio of a goal every 147 minutes.

– Greenwood was starting only his fifth Premier League game of the season against Sheffield United. Indeed, going into the game he had more Premier League goals (five) than starts (four) in 2019-20.

– Including his appearance in the EFL Trophy, the youngster has started 18 senior games for United this season. He has scored 12 goals.

– Greenwood’s five Premier League goals have come at a rate of one every 151 minutes, but most of those minutes have been as a substitute. In the Europa League he has five goals from five starts and two substitute appearances, with a ratio of a goal for every 92 minutes of football.

– With Martial’s hat-trick and Rashford’s two assists, the trio now have an impressive 69 direct goal contributions between them this season.

– Rashford leads the way with 19 goals and eight assists from 28 starts, followed by Martial with 19 goals and five assists from 32 starts and then Greenwood with 12 goals and four assists from just 17 starts.


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