THE SHARPE END: How Rasmus Hojlund hit his hot streak for Man United… from no goals in his first 14 Premier League games to five in five!
- Rasmus Hojlund has finally started to live up to his £72million summer price tag
- How did he break out of a drought and score five goals in five games?
- IAN LADYMAN: If I needed a new heart, I’d want Harry Maguire’s! Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
No goals in his first fourteen Premier League games and now five in five. Rasmus Hojlund has found his niche. Before this weekend, no one had scored more goals since Boxing Day than the Manchester United striker. What has changed?
He takes the same number of shots, makes the same number of runs, albeit a few more times in the box, and his teammates aim at him just as often.
Is it just a warm streak after a cold one? Not quite. He has the same number of shots, but the quality of them is better now.
Rasmus Hojlund has scored five goals in five games for Man United… but how did he achieve his hot streak?
One reason is that he gets so few passes. His 16.4 receiving per game is the second-lowest among all key forwards. Only Erling Haaland gets less, although he can boast double Hojlund’s number of shots.
That’s because when Haaland gets the ball, he’s usually in a goalscoring position. If United want their red-hot striker to keep shooting, they need to get him at the end of the chances more often.
What has changed is that he takes risks. No goals from 18 shots and now five from his last eight.
United find Hojlund in better positions – and he takes advantage. It’s still not close enough. Of all first-choice attackers, Hojlund averages the fewest shots per game.
Only Mo Salah has fired more shots with a better xG per goal attempt than Hojlund in that time.
