Manchester United’s chief problem in a historically poor season in 2024–25 was the failure to score enough goals. The defense was by no means airtight, but an inability to put the ball in the net frequently enough at the right end of the pitch brought immense vulnerability.
After 32 matches in 2025–26, the Red Devils have already scored 13 more goals in the Premier League than the whole of last season—57 compared to 44. That’s also already as many as in 2021–22 and 2023–24, and only one fewer than 2022–23.
United will finish this campaign with more Premier League goals than in any season since 2020–21 (73), when Ole Gunnar Solskjær oversaw a second-place finish—and the increased output is due to a promising reason.
So far in the Premier League this season, only Manchester City (63) and Arsenal (62) have outscored United. It’s not that the team has been supercharged under Michael Carrick either. The improvement was already being seen under Ruben Amorim—the team scored two or more goals in 10 of the 20 league matches prior to the Portuguese’s dismissal in January.
Attacking Improvement Driven by Recruitment and Depth
Crucial to the improvement has been last summer’s transfer business. Matheus Cunha, acquired from Wolverhampton Wanderers; Bryan Mbeumo, from Brentford; and Benjamin Šeško, from RB Leipzig, are not putting out world-class numbers just yet, but 35 goals and assists between them is a significant contribution in season one, combined with captain Bruno Fernandes’s prolific rate of assists and Casemiro chipping in with a surprising eight-goal haul, including a bullet header in United’s 2–1 loss to Leeds on Monday.
Where United are outperforming all of their direct rivals is the depth of goal scorers.
In the Premier League specifically, the Red Devils have five different players who have scored seven or more goals so far this season—Mbeumo, Šeško, Casemiro, Fernandes, Cunha. The lack of reliance on a single individual is important when injuries are always a threat.
By contrast, Erling Haaland has scored 35% of Manchester City’s entire Premier League output and only other player—Phil Foden—has reached seven goals in the competition. Chelsea have three players with seven or more Premier League goals, Liverpool and Arsenal have only one each.
|
Clubs |
7+ Premier League Goals This Season |
|---|---|
|
Man Utd |
Bryan Mbeumo (9), Benjamin Šeško (9), Casemiro (8), Bruno Fernandes (8), Matheus Cunha (7) |
|
Chelsea |
João Pedro (14), Cole Palmer (9), Enzo Fernández (8) |
|
Man City |
Erling Haaland (22), Phil Foden (7) |
|
Arsenal |
Viktor Gyökeres (12) |
|
Liverpool |
Hugo Ekitiké (11) |
Up to date as of April 14, 2026.
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