4 Reasons why Manchester United need Nemanja Matic back from injury immediately

#2 Defensive Steel

Manchester United v Swansea City - Premier League

Nemanja Matic has committed 180 fouls in the Premier League to date and has been yellow carded 27 times and red carded twice. He has 395 tackles in the Premier League in total, with a success rate of 72%.

He also has 284 interceptions, and 328 clearances. He has recovered the ball an astonishing 1230 times and has won 944 duels. In all his time in the Premier League, he committed just one error which led to a goal.

Last season, Matic had 64 interceptions, the highest in the United team. Ander Herrera with 34 was the closest to him from midfield. He was ninth in the whole of the Premier League in the number of interceptions. From the top six clubs, only Kante had more interceptions than him.

Matic registered 70 tackles last season, again the highest at United. Valencia, with 57, was the closest to him in the team. Matic conceded only 33 fouls last season, fewer than Kante (41), Fernandinho (41), Xhaka (57) and Bakayoko (50). If you leave the brilliant Kante aside, only Xhaka had more tackles than Matic, highlighting Matic’s stellar tackle success rate.

Matic also had 13 blocks last season, third in the United team behind Smalling and Jones and Herrera with six was the closest to him from the midfield. He also had 56 clearances, tied at sixth in the United team along with Bailly, behind the defenders, with only Pogba with 25 clearances coming close to him from the midfield.

Matic is the defensive steel United require in the middle and they need him to be ready in time to face Spurs because United will desperately need him on Monday night.

About the author

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Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

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Edited by Shea Robinson