Stats show Man Utd are better off WITHOUT Paul Pogba with £89m midfielder ruled out of AZ Alkmaar clash with injury
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MANCHESTER UNITED are better off WITHOUT Paul Pogba in the team as the £89million midfielder prepares to miss the AZ Alkmaar clash with injury.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's star man is out of the Europa League clash on Thursday night.
Pogba arrived at Carrington on Wednesday for scans on an ankle injury and is set to be officially ruled out of the game.
But it might be a blessing in disguise for United - who score more, concede less and have a better win ratio without him in the team, according to the stats.
Through 182 games since his 2016, then-world-record arrival from Juventus, Pogba has featured 141 times.
In those games, United have won just 76 times, while losing 31 - for a bang-average win record of just 53.9 per cent.
But without Pogba, Man Utd have been victorious in an impressive 27 out of their 41 matches, losing just eight times - a win rate of 65.9 per cent.
On top of that, United score 1.9 goals per game on average without the French World Cup winner, compared to 1.6 with him.
At the other end of the pitch, the Old Trafford side concede 0.1 goals per game fewer with Pogba not involved.
Having scraped past minnows Astana 1-0 in their opening game of their 2019-20 Europa League campaign, United now travel to Holland to face AZ Alkmaar.
And ahead of the trip, a club statement revealed: "Following a specialist's opinion, Paul Pogba requires a period of further rest and conservative treatment for the foot injury he sustained during the game against Southampton in August.
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"Updates will follow in due course."
After twisting his ankle against Saints earlier this season, Pogba subsequently sat out three games.
He returned for the match against Rochdale, again picking up a knock that also made him a doubt for Monday's 1-1 draw with Arsenal.