Bruno Fernandes' importance to Manchester United has been laid bare in two statistics revealed by Opta. The Red Devils' captain has been at the heart of his team's recent revival which has seen them overcome a rocky start to the season by winning their last three matches to climb up to sixth in the Premier League table, level on points with Manchester City and above champions Liverpool.
Fernandes top chance creator in Premier League
The first statistic posted by revealed that Fernandes has created more chances than any other player in the Premier League so far this season. The United captain has fashioned 24 opportunities in his nine matches. Everton's Jack Grealish is second on the list with 24, while Liverpool's Cody Gakpo is third.
The fact that Fernandes leads the way in the Premier League for chances created is all the more impressive as he has been playing further back than usual, sitting in Ruben Amorim's midfield two rather than his previous role as a No.10 following the arrival of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.
Despite being the most creative player in the league, Fernandes has just one assist to his name, crossing for Harry Maguire to head in the winning goal when United beat Liverpool 2-1 to secure their first win at Anfield in 10 seasons.
AdvertisementFernandes leads the way in Europe since 2020
Fernandes is not just the most creative player in England. He has created significantly more chances than any other player in Europe's top five leagues ever since he made his debut for United in February 2020 following his move from Sporting CP. In that period he has crafted 562 opportunities, 115 more than his nearest challenger.
The two statistics underline the Portuguese's importance to United and also offer a glimpse into how much better the Red Devils could have done in the last five years if Fernandes' team-mates had been on a similar level to him and finished off more of the chances he created for them.
AFPFernandes pleased with new signings
While Fernandes has played a key role in United's mini-resurgence in October, he has been helped out by big performances from the team's new arrivals Mbeumo, Cunha and goalkeeper Senne Lammens. Mbeumo has scored three times in his last two games while Cunha finally got off the mark in the recent win over Brighton and Hove Albion after impressing in the win at Anfield. Benjamin Sekso has made the slowest start of the summer signings, although he scored in the defeat at Brentford and in the victory over Sunderland which kicked off the team's winning streak.
Fernandes praised the club's business after the 4-2 win over Brighton. He said: "We need to sign big characters, not good players because at this club, being good players sometimes is not enough because of the pressure, because of the attention we get and everything. I think we brought in players that are very aware of the dimension of the club. Cunha has that good arrogance to do the good things and the right things, so that's something good. Bryan, also the same. He's not afraid to take the ball, to do his play, to do his things. We brought two players who were aware of the Premier League, also.
"And then we brought a very young goalkeeper and a centre-forward, they hit the ground flying (running). Obviously, we know Ben will be judged by scoring goals or not. But a part of that, he's been doing great, whatever he's being asked to do. He's got his goals already, and I think now it's going to come more and more because he's more than capable of scoring goals. Senne came probably with the intention of being the number one. He had to wait for his moment. The moment came and he was ready for that. So this is what this club is about. You come, the moment will be there straight away and you have to take it."
United aiming to match recent win record
United waited 17 months to win back-to-back Premier League games under Amorim and they can win four successive games for the first time since February 2024 when they visit Nottingham Forest on Saturday. United have a poor recent record away to Forest, losing 1-0 last season and 2-1 in the previous campaign. However, Forest are 18th in the Premier League table on only five points, but they are likely to be fired up in new manager Sean Dyche's first league game in charge at home. Dyche oversaw a 2-0 win over Porto in the Europa League in his first home match after succeeding Ange Postecoglou to become the club's third coach of the season and has already shaken things up by imposing some surprising rules on the squad.
