Man Utd defender equals damning Hojlund and Zirkzee statistic that just highlights how much Amorim has his work cut out

Stretty News

·27. Februar 2025

Man Utd defender equals damning Hojlund and Zirkzee statistic that just highlights how much Amorim has his work cut out

After netting Manchester United’s second goal of the game in last night’s 3-2 win over Ipswich Town, Matthijs de Ligt has now recorded eight shots on target.

In doing so, the centre-half has now equalled the amount registered by forward duo Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee in the Premier League this season (as per WhoScored).

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Remarkably, De Ligt has also scored the same amount of goals as Hojlund, whom the club forked out a whopping £64 million for when he signed from Atalanta in 2023.

Such statistics are just a testament to the mammoth task Ruben Amorim is navigating currently. There is simply no reason why your first-choice centre-forward should be without a league goal since the beginning of December, despite playing 925 top-flight minutes since the new boss took the reins.

Hojlund is now on 17 games without a goal

Hojlund is under increasing pressure to find a PL goal. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Zirkzee, meanwhile, has notched three goals and one assist in 27 appearances thus far, and while the expectation remains that he is also providing the firepower up front, he is often cut slightly more slack due to the attacking threat he offers in build-up play.

The pair cost £100.5m upfront, yet United are expected to enter the forward market again this summer to presumably shell out another big-money fee to sign a prolific No.9. Where that leaves Hojlund in the future remains to be seen, as fans have been left pulling their hair out at his frequent blank displays week after week.

They’re not the only ones, either. One report this week suggested Amorim’s coaching staff were ‘losing patience’ with the Dane, with one member of staff issuing a ‘particularly scathing’ review of Hojlund’s display in the 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur last week.

He is said to have garnered interest from Serie A, where he spent one campaign in 2022/2023 and scored nine goals in 32 appearances.