Premier League · 2023/24
Manchester United
Over 38 matches, Manchester United create most danger down their left (1.13× the league norm), and concede most down their right (1.03×).
57 scored, 3.3 below xG
58 conceded, 16.8 below xGA
Where the shots come from
Shots taken
every shot, or counted by zoneManchester United, 2023/24 · final 35m. A further 1% of their shots came from outside this window.
vs league average · 1.00 marked · share of xG
Shots taken
every shot, or counted by zoneManchester United, 2023/24 · final 35m. A further 1% of their shots came from outside this window.
vs league average · 1.00 marked · share of xG
Shots faced
every shot, or counted by zoneManchester United, 2023/24 · final 35m.
vs league average · 1.00 marked · share of xG
Flanks and routes
Danger conceded by flank
left against right · open play onlyNo meaningful side bias. Manchester United concede about evenly on both flanks, so neither is worth targeting over the other.
Set pieces are excluded, since a corner has no flank. Sides within ten points of an even split are treated as level, since a season is short enough that smaller gaps are usually noise.
Crosses or through balls
open play onlyManchester United take 9% of their open-play danger from crosses and 14% from balls played through the middle.
Measured from the action immediately before each shot. This shows whether a side works the ball wide or through the middle; which flank they progress down cannot be derived, because no free source publishes pass locations.
Who does the work
Territory and pressing
1.00 = league averageManchester United move the ball about as the league does.
- Territory won1.01×
8.4 deep completions a match
- Territory allowed1.18×
9.8 conceded a match
- Pressing1.06×
12.9 opponent passes per defensive action
- Freedom to build1.02×
13.8 of their own passes allowed
- Danger per arrival0.90×
0.172 npxG per deep completion
A deep completion is a pass finished within about twenty yards of goal, and PPDA counts an opponent’s passes per defensive action. A lower figure is a harder press, so the bar inverts it to keep every row reading the same way. This describes where the ball ends up rather than how it travelled: no pass or carry record exists in this data, so progressive passes and carries are genuinely out of reach rather than merely absent.
Share of attacking output
non-penalty xG plus expected assistsManchester United’s attack is effectively 9.3 players. A side spread across fourteen absorbs an absence that one built on nine does not.
- Bruno Fernandes20.5%
- Alejandro Garnacho16.1%
- Rasmus Højlund11.3%
- Marcus Rashford8.7%
- Scott McTominay8.0%
- Antony7.1%
Share of the squad’s non-penalty xG plus expected assists, so it counts chances taken and chances given alike. Penalties are left out because they describe who the club nominates rather than who creates. Contributors under 2% are not listed, though they still count towards the spread above.
Creator to finisher
shots and xG per pairing- Bruno Fernandes→Alejandro Garnacho2.7 xG25 shots · 1g
- Bruno Fernandes→Rasmus Højlund2.6 xG10 shots · 2g
- Bruno Fernandes→Casemiro2.2 xG17 shots · 1g
- Alejandro Garnacho→Rasmus Højlund1.8 xG5 shots · 1g
- Bruno Fernandes→Marcus Rashford1.5 xG12 shots · 1g
- Bruno Fernandes→Scott McTominay1.4 xG9 shots · 2g
- Alejandro Garnacho→Scott McTominay1.3 xG5 shots · 1g
- Alejandro Garnacho→Bruno Fernandes1.2 xG13 shots · 0g
The pass immediately before the shot, so a player who starts moves without playing the final ball will not appear here. Roughly seven in ten shots name their creator.
How the season splits
Danger by scoreline
leading, level or behindManchester United produce most of their danger with the game level (49% of their xG).
- Ahead29%
- Level49%
- Behind22%
- Ahead
- 29%
- 17.9 xG · 122 shots
- Level
- 49%
- 29.8 xG · 269 shots
- Behind
- 22%
- 13.1 xG · 159 shots
The scoreline at the moment each shot was struck, rebuilt from goal times. Sides that trail often will look busier in attack than they really are.
Home and away
same team, two recordsManchester United are a noticeably different side by venue, creating 0.48 xG more per match at home, and conceding 0.29 fewer.
Shots faced and shots stopped
two different jobsManchester United allow 1.99 xG a match, and concede 15.3 fewer goals than the league converts that into.
- Chance prevention
- 1.99
- Shot stopping
- +15.3
xG allowed per match. Mostly the outfield shape, and it tends to repeat.
Goals prevented against the league rate. Largely the keeper, and it swings year to year.
Measured against the league’s own conversion rate rather than raw xG. Blocked and off-target shots carry xG that can never be scored, so comparing goals to raw xG would mark every side in the division as leaky. A high block share means bodies in the way rather than chances denied.