Marcus Rashford played like a man possessed as Manchester United ran rings around Liverpool to secure a memorable 2-1 victory at Old Trafford.
Popular Twitter account UtdArena released a statistical comparison of the Mancunian’s display against the team from Merseyside and Brentford last week. And the difference was stark indeed!
Marcus Rashford — Physical Data
Intensive Runs (Offence)
73 — LIV
42 — BREIntensive Runs (Defence)
36 — LIV
25 — BRETotal Distance:
10,066m — LIV
7,657m — BREPercentage Time Running:
21% — LIV
16% — BREPercentage Time Walking:
34% — LIV
45% — BREFantastic! pic.twitter.com/DbUeO1a7vv
— UtdArena (@UtdArena) August 23, 2022
The numbers showed the amount of hard work the 24-year-old put in as compared to his dire showing against the Bees just the weekend before.
Rashford covered a total distance of 10.06 kilometres on Monday night, a huge improvement over the 7.657 kms that he ran in London.
The forward’s intensive runs, both offensively and defensively, improved remarkably against Liverpool as did the percentage of time spent running and walking during the game.
Rashford’s intensive runs as part of the offensive side of things was almost double that of what he produced against Thomas Frank’s side, from a mere 42 at Brentford to 72 on Monday.
Monday’s showing will have given Rashford a much-needed boost of confidence as he looks to regain his form and hopefully win his place back in the national team ahead of the World Cup.
Rashford played as the lone man up top in the first half and moved into a more free-flowing wider role in the second following the introduction of Anthony Martial.
The duo combined to devastating effect as United scored the all-important second goal. The Frenchman’s perfectly-timed pass teed up Rashford who kept his composure to beat Allison at his near post for what proved to be the winning goal.
Rashford’s running caused issues for Liverpool’s back-line all evening, completely vindicating the manager’s decision to start him in place of Ronaldo.
The numbers underpinned an all-round fantastic performance from the Mancunian, who will now look to keep the momentum going under Ten Hag.
No doubt this has set the blueprint for how the new manager wants to play and he will be demanding more of the same from all of his players as he begins to implement his philosophy on the team.
