It is somewhat striking when you realise that Erling Haaland, just on his own, has scored the same amount of Premier League goals that Manchester United have managed as a team so far this season.
At the time of writing, Haaland and United have scored 36 times between them in the league so far this term, chalking up 18 each. The Manchester City striker has been a revelation since arriving in England, taking the Premier League by storm, so much so that he is already seven goals clear of nearest challenger Harry Kane already.
While Haaland has banged them in for fun at the Etihad Stadium, United, on the other side of the city, have struggled for goals. The most the Reds have scored in a Premier League fixture so far this season is three - and they have achieved that only twice.
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They do not have a reliable source of goals that they can call upon, with Cristiano Ronaldo having struggled for form and consistency and Anthony Martial's fitness proving questionable. Marcus Rashford has shown plenty of promise, scoring four times in the Premier League this term, but he is yet to prove his consistency, failing to score in back-to-back games so far.
Fortunately, manager Erik ten Hag has not been blinded by the fact; he is acutely aware of it and has addressed United's problems in front of goal on several occasions this season. He addressed it once again as recently as Thursday evening, following the 4-2 Carabao Cup win over Aston Villa, which marked the first occasion in his premiership that his side had scored four goals in a competitive fixture.
"In the front line, the availability of the players that is a concern for us," admitted Ten Hag. "We had so many games, like Newcastle United (0-0), Marcus Rashford ill.
"We had to play some other games where we have to improvise to construct a proper offensive line. If you can't do that, then it's really difficult to get into the first four, if you don't have the players to construct a proper offensive line.
"One of the conclusions you already can make is about the frontline. That is a concern. I think we really made progress in football – pressing, play out from the back, also attacking, but the final third of our game we have to improve."
Despite their inconsistency in front of goal, United, should they beat Fulham on Sunday and other results ahead of that game have gone their way, could pause for the World Cup level on points with fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. If that scenario develops, that should only fuel optimism that they will improve as the season goes on and have the ability to finish inside the top-four.
However, following last Sunday's 3-1 league defeat to Villa, former United captain Gary Neville also drew reference to the Reds' lack of firepower. He highlighted it as a weakness that could derail their top-four ambitions.
Neville said: "United's front three are the weakest out of the top six. You think of Kulusevski-Kane-Son (at Tottenham) - United would take those three. Arsenal have Saka-Jesus-Martinelli. Liverpool have Nunez, Diaz, Jota, Salah and Firmino - you'd definitely choose three of them over what United have got. You'd take Chelsea's even.
"United's front players aren't as good as they should be, although Erik ten Hag is getting the maximum out of them. I don't know where the money has gone again - the spend over the past four or five years."
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