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If 2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, then 2024 has certainly begun as the Year of the Dane at Old Trafford.
Following a difficult start to life in the Premier League at Manchester United, Danish dynamo Rasmus Hojlund has come alive since scoring the winner against Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
Zero goals and zero assists in the fourteen league games prior to this point have been proceeded by five goals and two assists in the next five. Hojlund also scored an important goal in the FA Cup 4th round tie against Newport County, putting the game to bed at a point where it appeared it may hang in the balance.
The Dane has started seven games since Boxing Day. United have won six and drawn just one. The only game he missed – the trip to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest – ended in a disappointing 2-1 defeat.
No Premier League player has scored more than Hojlund since Boxing Day. While the rate of the striker’s productivity is impressive, what’s even more impressive is the nature of his contributions.
As mentioned above, Hojlund scored the winner against Villa on Boxing Day. He followed this up by scoring the first and assisting the second in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. Two weeks later, Hojlund scored the fourth in the 4-2 win over Newport County.
🥁 Our January Goal of the Month award goes to…
Rasmus Hojlund for his strike against Spurs! 👏👑#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 1, 2024
A few days later, the Dane once again provided a goal and an assist as United triumphed in a pulsating 4-3 win over Wolves at Molineux. Hojlund then opened proceedings against West Ham in the next match, as his team went on to win 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Which then brings us full circle to yesterday’s reverse fixture away at Villa Park.
The 21-year-old put United 1-0 up courtesy of a well-taken poacher’s goal in the box from a corner. Though Aston Villa would level the game, a late header by Scott McTominay was sufficient to give United all three points in a pivotal game for their Champions League qualification prospects.
There is also a variety to Hojlund’s goals which speaks to a player with quality and confidence in equal measure.
The opening goals against Spurs and West Ham were world-class strikes. The goals against Newport County, Wolves and Villa were quintessential fox-in-the-box efforts, demonstrating the Dane’s predatory instincts. The goal which began this electric form – the acrobatic winner on Boxing Day – displayed his athleticism and invention.
The contrast between a statistical analysis of Hojlund before and after the Christmas period is stark.
Look at that conversion rate from Hojlund. pic.twitter.com/bxE2jRgXTc
— United Peoples TV (@UnitedPeoplesTV) February 12, 2024
Before Boxing Day, the Dane had played 14 games, starting 11 of them – good for 945 minutes of time on the pitch. Yet he had neither scored nor assisted a single goal in these appearances. He’d only taken 18 shots, producing an xG (Expected Goals) of 3.01.
But, from Boxing Day onwards, Hojlund had played 442 minutes across 5 starts and scored 5 goals, while laying on two assist. He has achieved this while taking just 8 shots -a staggering 62.5% shot conversion rate; while his xG from this has been 2.33 – an overperformance by nearly three goals.
Put simply, Hojlund has gone to a new level since (just before) the New Year in the Premier League. The Dane had demonstrated flashes of these performances in the Champions League where, despite United being eliminated from the group stages in fourth place, he is still the competition’s joint-top scorer (5 goals).
There is a more complete nature to Hojlund’s games domestically, however, than his efforts earlier in the season continentally.
He looks fitter, capable of pressing for the full ninety minutes, rather than gassing after an hour, like earlier in the year. His two assists – both for Marcus Rashford – show he is linking with his team mates more effectively. His dressing down of Alejandro Garnacho in the FA Cup 4th round, after the Argentine winger failed to find the Dane in the box, also demonstrates he is being more demanding of them.
But, most of all, he looks more confident with every step he takes. Ruud van Nistelrooy – the former lethal number nine at Old Trafford – once remarked: “The most important thing for a striker is confidence in front of goal.”
Hojlund appears to be overflowing with it since Boxing Day.
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