United’s 2022/23 season in numbers

In just his first year in English football, Erik ten Hag took charge of a team coming off the back of a difficult 2021/22 campaign and led us to third in the Premier League. 

The Reds also put in a comprehensive showing against Newcastle to lift the Carabao Cup, ending our six-year wait for silverware.

It is therefore fair to say that the Ten Hag era is just getting started.

But before attention turns to what this team can achieve next term, it is now time to look back at our 2022/23. Read about the numbers that underpin what was an impressive inaugural campaign at Old Trafford for the Dutchman.

62 GAMES PLAYED 

Aside from a 38-match league campaign, the Reds went all the way in both domestic cup competitions and reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League, resulting in us playing 62 fixtures across the campaign.

A free midweek was scarcely available for Ten Hag’s men, with cup matches filling any potential gaps in the schedule. This made United's the busiest calendar of any team across Europe’s top five leagues – such a feat saw Bruno Fernandes become the player to make the most appearances, too, with the FA Cup final his 59th of the season for United alone.

41 GAMES WON

Of the 62 fixtures we played in 2022/23, the Reds still managed to rack up an impressive 41 wins in Ten Hag’s first season in charge. We lost 12 and drew nine.

Our home form has been of particular note, going unbeaten there in the Premier League since our opening-day loss to Brighton. Since that defeat to the Seagulls, the Reds kickstarted our campaign with a big win over Liverpool, came from behind to beat City, and who could forget about that special European night against Barcelona?

Antony’s winner in front of a buoyant Stretford End went on to win our Goal of the Season award, and deservedly so for both the occasion and the quality of the finish.

Ten Hag has re-established Old Trafford as fortress, and long may it continue.

28 CLEAN SHEETS 

A stern defence is the bedrock of any successful side and United earned an impressive 28 clean sheets across all competitions in 2022/23. With David De Gea largely a mainstay in goal, a rotation of centre-backs in front of him all contributed to several shutouts. 

The Reds earned 17 in the league alone, enough to win our no.1 the Golden Glove. Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane held down the fort centrally for large parts of the season, before the former’s untimely season-ending injury at home to Sevilla in the Europa League.

Varane also found himself out on occasion, with Luke Shaw stepping into the central role and performing to the highest of standards each time. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof also played their part, with the latter playing many matches in the season’s run-in, and looking formidable.

On the flanks, Shaw was also deployed in his natural left-back position, backed up by Tyrell Malacia, while Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka shared the responsibilities of the right-hand side.

108 GOALS SCORED

With defence building the platform, our attackers were afforded freedom, resulting in the Reds scoring 108 goals in all competitions. 

Thirty of those, of course, came from Marcus Rashford, as United reaped the rewards of his rejuvenation under Ten Hag. Our no.10 also provided 11 assists in his 56 appearances, taking his total goal involvements to 41 across all competitions – 22 in the league. He is the first Red to reach 30 goals scored since Robin van Persie’s tally in our 2012/13 title-winning campaign. 

The common phrase 'the stats don't lie' springs to mind when analysing the numbers behind our 2022/23 campaign.

Going off the evidence of the statistics displayed above, there is plenty to be pleased about from our season, and even more to be excited about going into our 2023/24 campaign.