Manchester United's forgotten hero from last season can replace Mason Mount

A year ago, Christian Eriksen was the standout of all Manchester United's summer signings. Now, he isn't even guaranteed minutes and has yet to start either of the opening two Premier League matches.

That seems certain to change this weekend with the visit of Nottingham Forest. Mason Mount will miss the match because of an injury, and Eriksen is the obvious choice to replace him. Even without the injury, that might have been the case.

Mount has underwhelmed in his first two competitive appearances for the club, and against a team that sits back as much as Forest, it makes sense to select players capable of carving open their backline.

Eriksen's skillset as a creative midfielder could make him the ideal choice this weekend, though he himself faces the challenge of proving that he deserves to be starting matches as well.

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The 31-year-old was one of the standout performers from United's strong recovery to their poor start to last season, and despite only being signed for a supplementary role, he soon became undroppable, such was his influence on matches.

Eriksen was at the heart of everything United did well in the opening months under Erik ten Hag and contributed to key moments, culminating with a goal and a superb assist in the victory over Fulham before the World Cup.

He would notch three assists in the five league matches that followed the return of club football, though performance levels had begun to drop, and after an injury in the FA Cup win over Reading, he missed 16 matches and returned a shell of his former self.

United were already paying the price for their over-reliance on the Danish international as his influence