Fred played superbly in Manchester United's 0-2 win against Leeds at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon, stepping in for the suspended Casemiro and looking like a brilliant replacement for his compatriot.
The Brazilian made a remarkable eight tackles for Erik ten Hag's side in Yorkshire as United made amends for the dropped points in Wednesday's 2-2 draw at Old Trafford against managerless Leeds. Fred has often been criticised for his performances at United, however, he has made clear improvements under Ten Hag and Sunday was a clear demonstration of just that.
He was deployed in the holding role in midfield, with the more attacking Marcel Sabitzer and Bruno Fernandes ahead of him and statisticians Opta revealed his contribution after the match with a tweet explaining how he had made the most tackles in a Premier League match in over two years.
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By contrast, the most recent player to make as many tackles in a single match was Kyle Walker-Peters - who made the same number of tackles for Southampton against Fulham on Boxing Day 2020. It means Fred's defensive contribution during the clash with Leeds outnumbered Casemiro's highest number of tackles in a single match for United so far following his arrival at Old Trafford last summer.
Goals from Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho handed United the win, but a clean sheet at a tricky away ground shows the steel United have this season. The performance from Fred shows his ability to contribute in the run-in and the pursuit for silverware, with an opportunity opening up to play alongside Casemiro going forward in the starting XI for United following Christian Eriksen's injury.
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