No goals in his first 14 Premier League games and now five out of five. Rasmus Hojlund has found his rhythm. Before this weekend, no one had scored more goals since Boxing Day than the Manchester United striker. So what has changed?
He takes the same number of shots, makes the same number of runs, although some more inside the area, and his teammates target him the same number of times.
Is it just a good streak after a cold one? Not quite. He is having the same number of shots but the quality of them is better now.
One reason is that he receives very few passes. His 16.4 received per game is the second lowest of all the main forwards. Only Erling Haaland receives less, although he has twice as many shots as Hojlund.
This is because when Haaland receives the ball, he is usually in a scoring position. If United want their red-hot forward to keep firing, they need to take advantage of opportunities more often.
Rasmus Hojlund has five goals in five games for Man United… but how has he achieved his good run?
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What has changed is that he is taking risks. No goals in 18 shots and now five in his last eight.
United are finding Hojlund in better positions and he is taking advantage of the situation. He’s still not close enough. Of all the starting forwards, Hojlund averages the fewest shots per game.
Only Mo Salah has taken more shots in that time with a better xG per goal attempt than Hojlund.