Manchester United have a new attacking weapon to unleash for the run-in

There is no disputing the argument that Marcus Rashford has been Manchester United's best attacker this season. This campaign has turned into one of redemption for a player whose confidence had plummeted a year ago.

Rashford has scored 27 goals in 2022/23 and is producing 0.93 goal contributions (a goal or an assist) per 90 minutes. Those are numbers that would immediately elevate you to the bracket of world-class forwards.

So you would probably be surprised to hear that there is a player in Erik ten Hag's squad who is bettering that ratio, someone who is producing exactly one goal or assist every 90 minutes.

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That player is Anthony Martial and the caveat here is that he's had so many fitness issues this season that Rashford has played 2,561 minutes more than the Frenchman. Or more than 28 full 90-minute games, to put it another way.

Martial has to maintain that level he has produced in patches this season for a long, long time before he can truly earn comparisons with Rashford, but what he has achieved in his 718 minutes of football this season probably explains Ten Hag's defence of his record two weeks ago.

The 27-year-old had been in back training for a week and a half before the international break, but wasn't considered fit enough to be part of the matchday squad for either of the Europa League games against Real Betis, the Premier League fixture with Southampton or the FA Cup quarter-final win against Fulham.

Martial has missed 31 games this season through five separate absences, including hip, back, Achilles and hamstring problems. It is more than 18 months since he last completed 90 minutes for United and only of his 14