Voting open for United's Player of the Month

The month got off to a difficult start, with the 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, but the Reds have hit a rich vein of form since the international break, beating Newcastle United, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig and drawing with Chelsea.

All in all, United have scored 11 goals in our four games since that Spurs showing and conceded just two – both own goals!

There were many great individual performances over the month – Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Axel Tuanzebe stood out in Paris, while Victor Lindelof was also a noteworthy performer as the Reds kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time in 2020/21.

But ultimately, the following trio are up for our second prize of the season…

MARCUS RASHFORD

Our no.10 continues to make headlines off the pitch, with his incredible campaign to end child food poverty in the UK earning him an MBE, but October was arguably one of his best periods on the pitch too. A first senior hat-trick against RB Leipzig – each goal better than the last – capped off a month in which Rashford hit five goals in five games for the Reds, including yet another late winner in Paris. That strike, belted in off the post after Rashy had proved too slippery for PSG midfielder Danilo Pereira to catch, could be in with a shout of winning our Goal-of-the-Month competition, although the fast break and cool finish at Newcastle was pretty good too. We nearly forgot to mention the two assists Marcus also conjured in that game to help see off the Magpies!

Key stat: Rashford scored the quickest-ever hat-trick by a substitute in the Champions League (27 minutes from coming on to netting the last goal), beating a record previously set by PSG’s Kylian Mbappe.

FRED

United’s new go-to big-game player, the Brazilian was paired in a midfield pivot with Scott McTominay for a large slice of October, helping United to that memorable win at the Parc des Princes as well as the Premier League victory over Newcastle. But our no.17 showed his positional intelligence and, yet again, his superb work-rate as part of a diamond in his, and our, best performance of the month, against RB Leipzig. Rashford may have taken most of the plaudits for his quickfire treble, but Fred was the fulcrum of a performance which switched from diligent and disciplined to expansive and electric in an instant, as the Bundesliga leaders were put to the sword.

Key stat: The Reds are yet to lose when Fred starts this season - we've won five and drawn one of the six games in which he's been named in the initial XI.

BRUNO FERNANDES

This is beginning to become a regular occurrence! Since signing for the Reds in January, the Portuguese midfielder has been nominated for every Player-of-the-Month award but one. But that’s not exactly surprising - our no.18 is hugely popular with the fans, but he also backs it up with his influential performances on the pitch. Take Paris as an example. Awarded the captain’s armband for the first time as a Red, he stepped up to take a penalty midway through the first half, despite missing at Newcastle a few days previously. Keylor Navas saved it, but was later adjudged to be off his line. For Fernandes to have the composure to try again and slot home said all you need to know about him as a player. If you need any more convincing, there’s also the goal and assist at Newcastle, plus a whirlwind cameo off the bench against Leipzig.

Key stat: Despite only making his debut in February, no United player has registered more assists in all competitions than Fernandes (12) under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

HOW TO VOTE

The Player of the Month poll is now open in our Official App, which is free to download.

Be quick to cast your vote, as the poll is set to close at 12:00 GMT on Saturday, when the winner will be announced.

Our 2020/21 home, away and third kits are available to buy now from United Direct.