Opta detail Fred's recent influence

The 29-year-old was on hand to fire home his fourth goal of the campaign, after Bruno Fernandes’s initial effort was kept out by Foxes goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. 

The strike, although it couldn’t help spur us on to secure the win as intended, was the Brazilian’s second direct scoring involvement in as many league matches, after he superbly set up Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick opener against Tottenham before the March international break.

It has seen Fred become a frequent goal contributor for the Reds of late and the numbers show that is, in fact, something that dates back to interim manager Ralf Rangnick’s arrival in December. 

According to data experts Opta, our no.17 has been directly involved in six goals during his 13 Premier League appearances under the German. 

That’s bettered in the United squad by only Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have both been involved in one more each. 

It’s a mark of Fred’s impressive form since Rangnick took charge and actually betters his tally collated across his 87 previous top-flight games for the Reds (five).

Having scored the late winner in our interim manager’s opening game in charge against Crystal Palace, he has since netted in matches with Leeds United and most recently Leicester, while also setting up goals for Fernandes at Aston Villa, Anthony Elanga at Brentford and Ronaldo versus Spurs.

While the midfielder now has a personal-best total of 10 direct goal involvements across all competitions for the club so far this season, that doesn’t tell the full story of why he has received recent praise from our former players and fans alike. 

Flair moments such as his neat piece of skill against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League have demonstrated his current confidence while his high ranking among our pressing stats in this season's Premier League show the ever-present energy and determination that he brings every time that he steps onto the pitch.

You would expect off the back of his recent form that Fred will be involved in some capacity during United’s next outing, away to Everton in the Premier League at Saturday lunchtime. 

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