Manchester United have been pretty underwhelming since the start of the season. A jammy win against Wolverhampton Wanderers and a rightful penalty call for the away side denied a 2-0 loss against a Tottenham Hotspur side with no Kane and a new manager in charge.
And now this Gameweek conceded 2 goals in the first few minutes against Nottingham Forest before they made a comeback against the 10-man Forest to claim a victory in that game.
It still is not a bad start to the season considering they got 6 points out of a possible 9 but FPL wise it is been exhausting for managers owning any Manchester United assets.
Bruno Fernandes v Spurs
Big chances created: 2 Big chances missed: 1 FPL points: 1
Now they face the runners-up of last year Arsenal in Gameweek 4 with their main left-back Luke Shaw injured and the backup Malacia out for months as well, and their new signing in midfield Mason Mount out for a few weeks due to injury as well.
So is it worth keeping the 8.5m Fernandes still in your team or getting rid for a player with better fixtures or form is a question that his 22.3% of managers would like to be answered.
Though after blanking the first two Gameweeks, the match against Nottingham Forest is where FPL managers finally found some relief when Bruno scored 12 points assisting the second goal for Manchester United scored by Casemiro, and then the winning penalty which was won by Marcus Rashford.
But with fixtures ahead against Arsenal and Brighton next, there is an argument that moving him on for a midfielder with better fixtures or form might be worth it and the options are not scarce either.
At a cheaper price point, you could transfer in Raheem Sterling, James Maddison, Jarred Bowen, Bryan Mbuemo, or Mousa Diaby, all of whom have better fixtures and form than the primary playmaker for Manchester United.
But when you keep aside the results and FPL points and carefully look at the underlying stats, Manchester United have the most big chances created in these first three fixtures alongside Brighton creating a total of 10 chances but only scoring 4 of them.
They have the highest amounts of possession won in the final thirds of the pitch out of all teams at 9.7 times possession won per match. They also sit third with Brentford at the expected goals scored with an xG of 7.1 in the first three matches.
Bruno Fernandes 🇵🇹
✅ Big Chances Created: 1st ✅ Expected Assists: 1st ✅ Expected Goal Involvement/90: 1st ✅ Expected Goals: 2nd ✅ First player to create 10+ chances ✅ Penalty Taker & Nailed ✅ 22% ownership in FPL
These numbers are an accurate depiction of what would easily go unnoticed by most FPL managers looking to get rid of him with a tougher run of fixtures setting in.
Kevin De Bruyne called Fernandes a ‘creative machine’ in his recent interview and he is not wrong as Fernandes has created the most chances in the Premier League since his arrival to Manchester United.
He rarely has been injured throughout his career, is always nailed on for 90 minutes, and is on penalty duty for the Red Devils as well with an impeccable scoring record. So, selling him for a cheaper alternative in all of those names mentioned above might be considered a sideways move.
And to debunk the myth about the few tough fixtures United face in the next 2 Gameweeks. Arsenal drew against Fulham 2-2 in their last match with their defence looking shakier than usual with them barely being able to keep a clean sheet against their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace as well.
Brighton too have faced weak sides in Luton Town and Wolves and still didn’t manage to keep a clean sheet and lost 3-1 in their recent match against West Ham United last weekend.
So these two fixtures cannot really be classified as the toughest that Manchester United will face and they still have a very decent chance of scoring in transitions against both these teams after which they face Burnley, Crystal Palace, Brentford, and Sheffield United till Gameweek 9.
Next Gameweek is also the time when Manchester United’s new highly rated striker Rasmus Hojlund makes his debut which further adds an attacking threat to their side.
Even with a penalty, Fernandes has underperformed his xGL involvement by -1.89 this season. #FPL
With all this information, there is a strong case to be made to hold Bruno Fernandes for longer as he contains the potential to produce points every week and looking at other midfielders in your team if there is a transfer needed to be made on someone like Maddison or Sterling is a better move to make.
