Man Utd’s best and worst players of the season so far - according to the stats on player ratings

It has been a less than impressive start to the Premier League season for Manchester United, who are already nine points off leaders Chelsea after 11 games.

With some dismal displays of late against Everton, Leicester City, Liverpool and Manchester City, the Red Devils have failed to live up to the pre-campaign hype.

Despite that, the stats indicate certain players are still producing impressive displays in the struggling side. WhoScored.com register player ratings for every Premier League game and subsequently work out an average tally across the season.

WhoScored claim its ratings are "based on a unique, comprehensive statistical algorithm, calculated live during the game. There are over 200 raw statistics included in the calculation of a player’s/team’s rating, weighted according to their influence within the game.”

It’s no surprise that United’s top ratings so far trail the league’s best performer Mohamed Salah, who has scored 8.18, and it will be concerning for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Co to see just how poorly some of his players rank compared to the other top sides in the division.

Creators-in-chief top the rankings

Of the 23 players to have appeared so far for United in 2021/22, no-one has scored higher than Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.

Both players have scored 7.14 in the early weeks and have provided a joint 10 assists so far this Premier League season. By comparison, a score of 7.14 ranks ninth in Man City’s and Liverpool’s respective charts, and 12th for Chelsea.

Third for United is Mason Greenwood with 7.1 and Aaron Wan-Bissaka is something of a surprise in joint-fourth having scored an average of 6.9, the same as summer signing Raphael Varane.

Interestingly, Cristiano Ronaldo is in sixth with a tally of 6.87, although no player has earned more Man of the Match performances this season for United.

Sancho’s struggles

At the other end of the chart, Jadon Sancho’s difficult start to life at Old Trafford comes more sharply into focus. No player who has started more than one game for United this season has registered a lower score than Sancho’s 6.27.

Eric Bailly has actually registered the lowest tally with 5.33 - not a surprise given he has started one league this term, which resulted in him scoring an own-goal and being withdrawn at half-time.

Donny van de Beek is also lower in the standings and has scored 6.01, although he’s only played 15 Premier League minutes in 2021/22.

A surprisingly low total is Marcus Rashford’s 6.3, despite netting two goals in 129 minutes of football. Edinson Cavani registered 6.38, again a shock score for one of the club’s most popular figures.

United’s defensive woes are also clear from WhoScored’s ratings. From the 12 players who have started five or more games, Victor Lindelof (6.46), Fred (6.51) and Harry Maguire (6.55) have registered the lowest average tallies.

Man United’s average player ratings

1= Bruno Fernandes & Paul Pogba (7.14), 3. Mason Greenwood (7.10), 4= Aaron Wan-Bissaka & Raphael Varane (6.90), 6. Cristiano Ronaldo (6.87), 7. Scott McTominay (6.68), 8. Nemanja Matic (6.66), 9. Luke Shaw (6.63), 10. David De Gea (6.59), 11. Jesse Lingard (6.57), 12. Harry Maguire (6.55), 13. Daniel James (6.53), 14. Fred (6.51), 15. Alex Telles (6.50), 16. Victor Lindelof (6.46), 17. Anthony Martial (6.45), 18. Edinson Cavani (6.38), 19. Diogo Dalot (6.34), 20. Marcus Rashford (6.30), 21. Jadon Sancho (6.27), 22. Donny van de Beek (6.01), 23. Eric Bailly (5.33).