Fernandes Returns to Form for Manchester United, Breaking Records

The Debrief, a Sky Sports column, examines key stories from recent Premier League matches using data and opinion. This week, Manchester United's thrilling derby win over Manchester City has sparked talk of their resurgence. For Bruno Fernandes, it's clear that being in his best position, the No 10 role, has made a significant difference. He produced an impressive performance at Old Trafford, setting up the opener and making history against Pep Guardiola's City. Fernandes created four big chances in the game, a feat no player had achieved against City in Pep Guardiola's decade in charge. He has done it twice this season, also achieving it against Wolves last month. Fernandes is responsible for three of the four occasions a player has created four big chances in a Premier League game in the past three seasons, highlighting his importance to United despite sometimes being cast as part of the problem. His efforts against City saw him bring up 600 chances created in his Premier League career, 168 more than Kevin De Bruyne since Fernandes' debut. This is astonishing, especially considering he has often played in an underwhelming side. The numbers indicate that Fernandes has not been stifled under Amorim, topping the charts for chances created this season. However, it makes sense to get Fernandes closer to the opposition goal where he can do more damage from open play. The heatmaps from his Premier League career at United show that he was doing more work in his own half under Amorim, whose preferred formation does not have a natural role for a true No 10. Michael Carrick must be tempted to unleash him from there now. Because he can still make the difference, United's owners will look to Fernandes' age and the potential money from Saudi Arabia, but there is also Champions League money to consider, which this Fernandes can deliver. Florentino's performance in Burnley's surprise 1-1 draw at Liverpool did not showcase the same levels of creativity, but he deserves huge credit for his attempts to shut down the reigning Premier League champions at Anfield, making nine tackles. It is only the fifth time a player has made nine tackles in a Premier League game this season, and Florentino has been responsible for two of them. This was perhaps his best game in a Burnley shirt, although it was not perfect, giving away a penalty that Dominik Szoboszlai missed. His combative qualities were ideally suited to this challenge against Arne Slot's side, which is what Scott Parker wanted when he brought in Florentino on loan from Benfica. Burnley will need more of it if they are to escape their predicament, still eight points from safety. Newcastle's goalless draw at Wolves should not have come as a surprise, given that they started the season with three stalemates in their first three Premier League matches on the road. But it is just another example of their lack of cutting edge. Eddie Howe's side have now failed to score in three of their last four away from home, with their only two Premier League victories on their travels coming after taking the lead inside two minutes. When charged with breaking teams down, they often struggle. Nick Woltemade has become a scapegoat for that, having not scored in his last seven appearances. But Newcastle's creativity problems run deeper, being too passive in attack for a team that is at its best when showing real intensity in their play. At Molineux, they became the team to have registered the highest passing accuracy without a shot on target in the first half of a Premier League game since Opta began collecting such records. Wolves dropped deep, and all Newcastle could do was cross the ball. There was a lack of movement inside and around Woltemade, with Wolves happy to let Newcastle have the ball wide. Better chances might have come with some cute play in the half spaces, but without it, Howe's team can look a little one-dimensional.