Rasmus Hojlund is going through a rough patch. The young striker looks low on confidence and needs support, but his data simply isn't good enough for a Manchester United player.

You don't need a degree in football analytics to conclude that Hojlund is struggling this season and it's been disappointing to see him regress after a decent first year in Manchester.

Hojlund scored 16 goals in his debut campaign. He scored 10 goals in the Premier League, five goals in the Champions League and once in the FA Cup, so the majority of his haul was produced in the league and in Europe, which is always a good sign when assessing a players' performances.

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Some goalscoring records can be made to look better by scoring in early rounds of cup competitions against lower division opponents but Hojlund's statistics weren't padded.

Hojlund would have been happy with his first season and supporters were hoping to see him take another step forward in 2024/25, however, spring is now around the corner and Hojlund has scored just twice in the league, which is one of many reasons why United are 13th in the table.

United have scored the same number of goals as Crystal Palace (29) and have fewer goals than West Ham. Leicester seem destined to be relegated and aren't far behind with 25 goals.

Hojlund hasn't contributed enough in the league and the numbers confirm what you have been watching, as mybettingsites.co.uk compared Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee to every other topflight club's main starting number nines who played the most minutes in the position and the data doesn't lie.

The Denmark international has just two goals in 1,116 minutes on the pitch, so it's not a surprise to see him ranked at the foot of that metric, but you can peel the onion back to delve deeper into Hojlund's performances and some of the stats should set alarm bells ringing at United.

You've got to buy the ticket to win the raffle - and Hojlund isn't attempting enough shots. He has averaged 1.05 shots per 90 this season, which is the lowest of all the strikers who were compared for the research, and that stat is crucial because it explains how Hojlund can improve.

The best strikers take more shots, and they're clinical finishers, but even Raul Jimenez averages 3.64 shots per 90 and Fulham aren't associated with creating a bucket of chances each game.

Jimenez, who is 33 years old, has nine league goals and it's almost guaranteed that Hojlund would have more than two goals if he took more shots. Hojlund's first touch might need to be worked on to ensure he can get a shot away and he needs to have the confidence to make attempts.

Confidence is crucial in elite sport and strikers can be streaky creatures who go on a prolific run after a strong performance, just like Hojlund did at the start of January last year.

Hojlund is currently stuck in a rut and is recording a worrying lack of touches in the opposition's box, as he's averaged under three touches per 90 minutes, which is damning.

If Hojlund was ranking highly on the aforementioned metrics and not finding the net, that would suggest a goal spurt was imminent, but his data keeps company with the league's worst strikers.

So, how is the problem solved? Ruben Amorim has experimented with Kobbie Mainoo up front and that isn't the answer. Zirkzee averages better statistics than Hojlund but isn't a prolific scorer. On the evidence of last season, Hojlund should be the team's biggest goal threat and Amorim might be forced to persist with him, with the hope that he can play the 22-year-old back into form.

It feels like blind hope at this stage but the only way is up for an out-of-sorts Hojlund, surely.