Manchester United have found out who their latest undroppable is after Omonia Nicosia win

The importance of Eriksen

When Manchester United signed Christian Eriksen on a free transfer in the summer it looked like a shrewd deal, strengthening the depth in Erik ten Hag's squad without putting a big hole in the budget.

Maybe nobody except Ten Hag envisioned the Dane becoming quite as integral as he has done to this team, however. After 11 successive starts Eriksen was finally given a rest more than two months into his Old Trafford career.

But United's toil against obdurate opponents only increased the sense of importance around Eriksen's role. Fred started brightly, and took up some clever positions between the lines, but wasn't as clever and quick on the ball as Eriksen is.

READ MORE: United player ratings vs Omonia Nicosia

When those two swapped with just over 20 minutes to go Eriksen immediately started to add more attacking threat. Fred did twice get into dangerous areas, with a first-half header and a shot early in the second half, but Eriksen was pulling strings in advanced areas and had two shots blocked from the edge of the area.

It was his patience on the ball that helped find Jadon Sancho in the area for United's late, late winner. Sancho had also made an impact off the bench, but Eriksen is proving to be so valuable.

The 30-year-old came off at half-time against Real Sociedad in what was a pre-planned change but has played 90 minutes in the other two Europa League games. In all eight Premier League fixtures Eriksen has played at least 83 minutes.

He is making the midfield tick at the moment and after Thursday he might not be in line for a rest for a little while again.

Casemiro's class

This wasn't the kind of test Casemiro is used to and he probably found running this midfield as routine as it gets,