The one problem Manchester United had against Chelsea could be costly next week

It was Manchester United's most comfortable Premier League home win of the season and yet it should have been even more resounding. The history books will show that United only managed to beat Chelsea by a single goal, but the gap was far greater on the pitch as United bombarded the opposition goal with a flurry of efforts.

On another day, they could quite easily have scored four or five. The harsh reality is they didn't. It has been a common theme throughout Erik ten Hag's tenure.

Expected goals are a statistic that can divide football fans. It sheds light on how good a side's attacking performance really was, but it is ultimately flawed by the fact that all that really matters is how many times a ball hits the back of the net.

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United would have been expected to net 4.46 goals from the quality of their chances on Wednesday night. It counts for nothing when they only managed two.

It is part of football that every single team will have days when they clearly should have scored more goals. The issue for United is that it is so often the case with them.

A good win could easily have come undone had Chelsea not wasted a plethora of opportunities themselves and against better opposition, United's midweek display might not have been enough to grab all three points.

Ten Hag's side now sits with a neutral goal difference in the Premier League after a string of narrow wins that helped chip away at the hammerings they have faced. Of their nine wins in the league this season, eight have been by a single goal.

United's habit will likely be enough to grind out results against the lesser sides for the majority of