It's been a difficult week for Manchester United. A 3-3 draw away at Galatasaray all but mathematically sealed the club's exit from the Champions League in midweek while a harrowing 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United at St. James' Park compounded the side's misery.
The Red Devils had picked up the most wins from the last six matches in the Premier League and were the in-form team in England's top flight, but a loss to the Magpies brought the side back down to earth.
The result meant Newcastle leapt above them in the table and has piled further pressure on head coach Erik ten Hag, with games against Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Liverpool on the horizon.
There were several disappointing displays for United on Saturday night but Scott McTominay in particular looked well off the pace.
Manchester United's game in numbers
The 13-time winners of the competition had just 42% of the ball and clung on for dear life before Anthony Gordon fired the hosts into the lead ten minutes into the second half. United already looked like a beaten team once the ball bypassed Andre Onana and caressed the net.
The Athletic journalist Laurie Whitwell was quite damning in his post-match assessment, labelling the performance as "pitiful" and the "worst of the season" so far.
Statistically, the home team were the dominant side and could even be slightly disappointed that the game only ended 1-0 given the sheer volume of shots that were peppered towards the United goal.
Possession %
58
42
Expected Goals
2.5
0.48
Shots
22
8
Shots Off Target
11
2
Shots On Target
4
1
Shots Inside Box
13
4
Accurate Passes
453
277
Passes In Opposition's Half
276
140
Touches In Opposition's Box
41
12
Duels Won %
63
37
Stats via FotMob
One player in particular struggled on the pitch and could find himself out of the starting lineup this Wednesday when Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea come to town.
Sofyan Amrabat's stats this season
Having played the full match, McTominay earned a match rating of just 4/10, as per MEN's Samuel Luckhurst. The Scotland international struggled to have any impact on the game, winning just two of his 11 total duels against Newcastle, leaving the pitch with a 0% success rate in his aerial duels.
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Additionally, McTominay lost possession of the ball twice, committed three fouls and was dribbled past on two separate occasions, as per FotMob.
Alongside United's 18-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, McTominay looked like the inexperienced one. Mainoo won 50% of his ground duels and boasted a 92% passing accuracy with 45 touches of the ball.
Despite that, it was Mainoo who was whipped off in the second half for loan signing Sofyan Amrabat. The Moroccan had little time to impose himself on proceedings given there were just ten minutes of normal time remaining when he entered the fray.
However, since McTominay struggled at St. James' Park, perhaps Ten Hag could look to bring the Fiorentina star into the starting lineup on Tuesday in his place. Let's look at how the pair compare statistically this term.
Progressive Passes
9.47
2.56
Progressive Carries
1.05
0.77
Passes To Final 1/3
9.47
3.59
Passes To Penalty Area
1.05
0
Switches
1.05
0.26
Passing Accuracy
85.9
82
Tackles
3.68
2.18
Tackles Won
1.84
1.03
Interceptions
1.05
0.9
McTominay is Manchester United's joint-third top goalscorer this season and boasts a 22% conversion rate which is higher than club captain Bruno Fernandes. However, his goals in recent games have masked some incredibly questionable displays.
Amrabat arrived on transfer deadline day on a season-long loan and Ten Hag even described the Morocco international as "amazing" on his debut which came in a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup.
However, the 27-year-old has made merely four Premier League starts since but is faring much better in terms of possession and defensive stats and could be the perfect partner for Mainoo in the middle of the park.