Comparing Man Utd’s Premier League record with and without Paul Pogba

Quick Reads

Planet Football
6th March 2020

Paul Pogba has divided opinion at Manchester United over the last few years, but what do the statistics say about his importance to the team?

Bruno Fernandes’ arrival has made people forget all about Pogba, at least temporarily, and the midfielder continues to be linked with a move away from Old Trafford, to Real Madrid or Juventus.

We’ve looked back at United’s Premier League record with and without Pogba since he returned to Old Trafford in 2016.

Results

Pogba has started 93 Premier League games since the start of 2016-17, with United winning 51, drawing 26 and losing 16 of those.

The Red Devils have picked up 179 points out of a possible 279 when the midfielder has been in their starting XI at an average of 1.92 points per game.

Of the remaining 49 league games where Pogba didn’t start due to injury, suspension or tactical reasons, United have won 22, drawn 13 and lost 14.

That works out at 79 points out of a possible 147 at a slightly worse record of 1.61 points per game.

Goals scored

United are certainly more of an attacking threat when Pogba is available. They have scored 158 goals in the 93 games the Frenchman has been in the starting line-up – 1.69 per game.

The midfielder has also been directly involved in 49 of those 158 goals, with 24 goals and 25 assists.

Their record fell to 1.44 goals per game without the France international due to 71 goals in 49 fixtures.