Six damning Man Utd stats that should worry fans despite victory over Chelsea

Manchester United might have secured their biggest feel-good win of the season against Chelsea, but things aren't as rosy as they seem at Old Trafford.

A Scott McTominay double, which cancelled out Cole Palmer's excellent equaliser, sealed United's ninth league win of the season and moved them to within three points of Manchester City. They played Chelsea off the park too, and were unlucky not to win the game by a bigger margin.

But gloom-lifting performance aside, a number of alarming stats prove that Erik ten Hag's team have a long way to go before turning their topsy-turvy campaign around. Here, Daily Star Sport is running through six of the worst. Apologies in advance, United fans.

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They're scraping wins

Eight of Man United's nine Premier League wins this season have come by a one-goal margin. This suggests, as is plain to anyone with a working set of eyes, that Ten Hag's team haven't really been dominating games, despite their strong domestic form.

Granted, a win is a win, and there's nothing wrong with grinding out results when you're not playing well. But a team with the third-most victories in the league ought to be seeing games off with a little more pizazz.

What position in the table do Man Utd deserve to be in? Let us know in the comments section below.

Their goal difference is poor

Wednesday's 2-1 win over Chelsea brought United's goal difference to the lofty heights of zero. Given that they're winning almost exclusively by one-goal margins it'd be silly to expect miracles in the goalscoring department, but considering that roughly two-thirds of their league games have ended in triumph, having anything close to a negative goal difference is appalling.

It suggests that when they win they're unconvincing, and when they lose they're comfortably second-best. For context, Newcastle, who are a point behind United and with one victory fewer, have a +15 goal difference – and that's after their 3-0 hammering at Everton!

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They're beating the worst…

It might seem harsh to downplay United's win over Chelsea, but let's not forget the Blues have been languishing in mid-table for over a year now. The fact is, every single one of the Manchester club's league wins this season have come against sides in the bottom half.

They haven't beaten anyone they weren't expected to beat this season, and although there are currently only three Premier League teams with more wins, if Ten Hag's men don't start beating the big boys it won't stay that way for long.

…and losing to the best

Five of United's six league defeats this season have come against opposition currently in the top eight. Heck, given their League Cup defeat to Newcastle, let's call it six from seven.

The Red Devils have consistently come up short against quality opposition – which might explain their torrid form in the Champions League – and they'll need to fix that sharpish if they plan to keep pace with rest of the big teams.

McTominay top scorer

We're closing in on the half-way point of the season and Manchester United's top goalscorer is Scott McTominay, with five. Sure, the Scotland international has developed a Jude Bellingham-esque knack for netting goals in recent months, but the fact a midfielder is leading the charts with such a low number should be cause for concern.

His goals have helped seal a third of United's points this season, which shows how dangerously reliant they are on the 26-year-old's arbitrary moments of magic. If he's still their top scorer in two or three months' time then it's fair to say they can probably park hopes of getting into the top four.

Hojlund still struggling

We all know Rasmus Hojlund isn't the finished article, but the fact he still hasn't scored in the Premier League is a big worry. There's clearly an appetite to give him time, but how long are United prepared to watch him struggle before signing a replacement becomes a must?

The club splashed £70million on him in July and will expect some sort of return on their investment soon. So if the big Dane doesn't find his shooting boots in the coming months he'll likely be going down as yet another pricey United transfer bungle.

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