Manchester United had numerous issues last season but a secret weapon is helping them solve one of those this campaign
11:59, 16 Nov 2025
Manchester United midfielder Casemiro celebrates with his teammates Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Just 44 goals. That is the measly sum Manchester United managed to conjure up last season in the Premier League.
To put that into perspective, only the bottom three and Everton scored fewer goals in the top flight. No wonder United were left hovering above the relegation zone.
It was United’s major failing and while the argument can be made that the league was sacrificed towards the end of the campaign for the Europa League, goals were an issue when the Reds were taking it seriously. On just 12 occasions out of 38 Premier League matches last season did United score twice or more in a single game.
This includes the times when even that was not enough to secure the three points – like against Brentford and Everton away where the Reds. Compare that to this season, and already the figures are looking brighter.
Only 11 Premier League matches in and United have scored two or more goals in seven games and they have not yet lost after scoring on multiple occasions in a single match. So what could be behind this up turn in form?
Well, the inclusion of Bryan Mbeumo into the starting XI has helped but there is also a secret weapon starting to take pressure off the forward line. His name is Casemiro.
The Brazilian is not known for his goalscoring pedigree. As a defensive midfielder, he hasn’t been expected to chip in with goals and his best goalscoring seasons were when he bagged seven in 2020/21 for Real Madrid and matched that tally in his debut campaign with United.
Yet this campaign has seen him score three goals already, easily swamping his record in the 2024/25 Premier League. He scored five in the entirety of last season which included a brace against a hapless Leicester City in the Carabao Cup.
Casemiro celebrates scoring for Manchester United against Nottingham Forest
Casemiro currently finds himself as United’s second top scorer at the club and this could be because of a change in style that we are seeing Ruben Amorim and the rest of the Premier League employ. MEN Sport have spoken previously about the danger the midfielder poses from set pieces.
Apart from his goal against Brighton, which even he will admit was fortuitous, Casemiro has scored either directly or indirectly from a set piece. Against Chelsea, the goal came as the away side failed to deal with a short corner routine which the Brazilian eventually nodded in.
At Nottingham Forest, he headed home from a corner and during this weekend’s international friendly against Senegal at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, he showed great composure from a Rodrygo free kick to add another goal. Casemiro is quickly becoming a danger man from dead ball scenarios for both club and country and that can only be a good thing for United.
Lots could be made of Rasmus Hojlund’s lack of goals last season, but it should not be solely down to the centre-forward to be scoring. Goals need to be coming from all over the park and that is what Casemiro is starting to do.
United are no longer so one-dimensional in their attack. Just ten different players scored in the Premier League for the Reds last season, now there is already nine different goalscorers.
Casemiro is the secret weapon though, leading the way for others to chip in with goals in the Premier League this season.
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