It is fair to say that Man United have been in the doldrums in recent years with their malaise in front of goal a startling contrast from the glory days under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Old Trafford club have lurched from one crisis to another with a number of strikers failing to make the grade at the Theatre Of Dreams and Betting-Directory.com has decided to delve a little deeper…
Man United Lagging Behind Big Rivals
Our study has found that no Manchester United player has scored a hat-trick in the Premier League in over six years which is a run that now totals a mind boggling 21,767 minutes. It was Robin Van Persie who last bagged a match ball thanks to his three goals against Aston Villa on April 22nd 2013 for United but since then it is fair to say it has been a barren spell.
In the intervening period, Man City have racked up a remarkable 15 hat-tricks in the league to rub it in the noses of their nearest rivals, while Tottenham have scored nine and Liverpool have picked up seven to further emphasise the dearth in attacking flair in the red half of Manchester.
In fact, 17 current Premier League teams have had a top level hat-trick since RVP did the business for United, although Brighton and Sheffield United have picked up multiple match balls during their spells in the Championship before being promoted.
The outlay on players over the last few years will be particularly galling for United fans with the club spending over £250m on attacking players since April 2013 in an ultimately failed bid to add much need fire power. Romelu Lukaku has scored three Premier League hat-tricks since Van Persie did the business for United but none of them were for the Old Trafford outfit and with the Belgian now with Inter, it may be that they have let their most potent striker leave the club.
Alexis Sanchez can also be added to that list with Lukaku of former players to have scored more hat-tricks than the entire United squad since 2013, with the Chilean forward claiming the match ball twice whilst at Arsenal before struggling at Old Trafford and eventually being moved on.
Luis Suarez and Kevin Nolan are two players who have scored hat-tricks since United last had one and they left the Premier League in 2014 and 2015 respectively!
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under huge pressure in the hot seat at the club at the moment and he will be praying that he can unearth a star striker sooner rather than later as he looks to end one of the more startling droughts in Premier League history.
Since Manchester United last had a Premier League hat-trick scorer:
- Manchester United have gone 21,767 minutes in the Premier League without a Hat-Trick.
- United have spent £250.5M on attacking players since their last Hat-Trick.
- 21 Premier League sides have had a scorer of a hat-trick since United’s last.
- There have been 71 Hat-Tricks scored in the Premier League since United’s last.