Manchester United's big change under Erik ten Hag was clear against Nottingham Forest

There has been a quiet transformation at Manchester United this season that should give them great hope for the future. After they shipped four goals away against Brentford in their second match of the season, it felt like United were on course for another shambolic season at the back.

Eight months later, they are now a completely different beast in defence and have been quietly racking up clean sheets at an extraordinary rate.

The most recent of those was perhaps their most satisfying, with a comfortable win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend showcasing just how much progress they have made.

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Alarm bells were ringing following the news last week of Lisandro Martinez's season-ending injury and that Raphael Varane would also be sidelined for 'a few weeks'.

They are a world-class defensive pairing and have played a key role in United's resurgence this season, proving to be just as good as any other centre-back partnership in the Premier League.

In their absence, Ten Hag had to resort to the much maligned duo of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, two players who have had more lows than highs during their time at the club.

This is a different United though. They kept a clean sheet, helped by the prominent presence of Casemiro ahead of them, as Ten Hag's side earned another comfortable away win to enhance their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.

There were a couple of shaky moments that could have been punished, but there have been in many matches this season. Forest were misfiring, and United never looked like dropping points.

David de Gea now leads the race for the Premier League golden glove award and holds the joint third most clean sheets out of any