Bruno Fernandes has played every minute of United’s season so far, and on paper it looks like he’s having a quiet season: two goals, two assists, and an expected-goals deficit that ranks as the lowest in the squad. But the numbers don’t tell the full story. He’s leading the Premier League in chance creation while operating on the left of a midfield two in Amorim’s 3-4-3.
Bruno definitely hasn’t regressed, he’s simply been redeployed and is still performing.
Table of Contents
What the Stats Say
Creation: Elite Across Every Metric
0.82 key passes per match — 95th percentile
2.00 passes leading directly to a shot (Shot Assists) per match — 98th percentile
League leader in total chances created
9.83 passes into final third per match — 97th percentile
Bruno has not stopped creating; he’s simply doing it from a different position. In previous seasons he floated between the lines, living around the box and threading passes through tight seams. Now he’s dropped a few yards deeper, and is more responsible for the tempo of the team.
The shift hasn’t dulled his influence. If anything, it’s given United more control. He still finds runners early, still hits the killer ball, just from a safer patch of grass. The data backs it up, his creative numbers sit halfway between what he produced as a No. 10 and what most eights manage.
Expected Threat (xT): How He Generates Danger
2.51 total xT — elite threat generation
90.9% from passing, 9.1% from carries — If you’ve ever watched Bruno play you can tell he’s more of a passer then a dribbler. This proves it.
Where his xT comes from:
Own half (20.2%) — dictating from deep
Left half-space (17.0%) — his primary operating channel
Right half-space (16.0%) — switching play
He’s not just creating in the final third anymore, the threat starts deep. Most of it comes through his passing, spreading play from those half-spaces and even his own half. It’s less about dribbling into trouble and more about directing traffic.
Bruno Fernandes vs Nottingham Forest (2–2) 90-minute masterclass in control from deeper areas.
108 touches (15 in the final third), 67 completed passes, and 11 progressive deliveries underline how much of United’s play ran through him. Created 4 key passes and 1 assist while operating mostly in the left half-space, dictating tempo rather than arriving in the box. The touch map tells the story: United’s conductor, not its finisher.
Progression: Elite Volume, Elite Success
17.02 vertical passes per match — 85th percentile
88.77% vertical pass accuracy — 62nd percentile (high accuracy on high volume)
49.32 total passes per match at 82.47% accuracy
Bruno’s passing has become the pulse of United’s build-up. He plays forward more than almost anyone in the league, averaging around seventeen vertical passes a game and most of them find their mark. His accuracy has climbed above 82 percent, a big step up from the looser, risk-heavy days when he operated as a pure No. 10. It’s the picture of a player trusted to set the tempo: still ambitious with the ball, but now choosing the right moments to risk it.
Shooting: High Quality, Cold Finish
2.00 shots per match — 91st percentile for volume
0.38 xG per match — 82nd percentile for shot quality
0.19 xG per shot (elite shot selection—best in squad)
0.09 goals per shot (actual conversion—half what it should be)
4.08 xG vs 2 goals = -2.08 finishing gap (he's underperforming by 2+ goals)
He’s still getting into the right areas but the goals haven’t followed. Two missed penalties have turned what should read as a solid return into a cold spell. He’s shot from good positions, yet only two have gone in from chances worth a little over four. He’s also hit the woodwork three times, the kind of fine margin that makes the numbers look harsher than the performances. It isn’t effort or movement that’s missing; it’s the finishing touch and a bit of luck.
The Defensive Reality
Bruno works hard without the ball. He presses, he tracks back, and he often wins it when he commits to a challenge. His numbers for duels and recoveries are solid, even edging into the top tier for winning the ball high up the pitch. But that effort comes with risk. He can lose it deep in his own half, and when he does, the recovery foul usually follows. It’s part of the deal with a midfielder who’s always trying to make something happen.
The Good:
4.19 defensive duels per match (56th percentile)
63.04% defensive duels won (68th percentile)
3.55 interceptions per match (73rd percentile)
3.37 opposition-half recoveries per match (89th percentile—elite counter-pressing)
The Bad:
5.01 own-half losses per match (96th percentile—4th-most in the league)
1.91 fouls per match (94th percentile—tied for 6th-most)
Bruno is active and successful in defensive actions when he engages. But he's getting bypassed (own-half losses), fouling to recover, and mistiming interceptions more than almost anyone in the league.
The Penalty Problem
Bruno’s missed two of his three spot kicks this season, and that alone skews how his year looks. Those misses add up to goals that should have been on the board and make his finishing numbers look worse than they are. Take the penalties out and his record settles closer to normal. It matters more now because he’s shooting less than he did as a No. 10. The penalties were meant to top up the goals he’d lose from playing deeper, but instead they’ve made the slump feel sharper than it really is.
Strip out penalties, and his non-penalty xG gap shrinks to -0.56 goals—still underperforming, but closer to normal variance.
The Amorim Trade-Off
The numbers show Bruno’s creativity hasn’t faded, but the picture around him has changed. Under Amorim’s 3-4-3, his job is no longer to hover behind the striker and look for killer passes and to score. He starts deeper, part of a midfield pair asked to build play and control the tempo before joining attacks. It’s a different job: less about constant invention in the final third, more about shaping how United move up the pitch.
He is sacrificing final-third threat for midfield control.
Heatmaps, 2024/25 vs 2025/26. Last season he worked higher with more touches around the box. This season he starts deeper in the left half-space with fewer penalty-area touches, consistent with a left-sided No. 8 focused on build-up rather than arrival.
The Gains: United gets more control
Pass accuracy up to 82.47% (from 75.8% as a #10) on 49 passes/match
Elite progression maintained: 17.02 vertical passes/match (85th percentile) + 9.83 final-third passes (97th percentile)
Dual #10s stay high: Cunha and Mbeumo both operate advanced with Bruno feeding them
The Losses: The box score
~1 fewer shot per match (2.9/90 as #10 → 2.0/match as #8)
Fewer penalty-area touches (2.3/90 → 1.73/match)
More defensive exposure: 5.01 own-half losses/match (96th percentile)
Our preseason report on Bruno concluded: "You sacrifice some final-third Bruno, but gain stability and progression in build-up." Ten matches in, that's precisely what's happening.
The Verdict
Bruno Fernandes is doing exactly what his manager wants from him. Under Amorim he’s the heartbeat of the midfield, moving the ball forward and knitting attacks together from deeper positions. The creativity hasn’t gone anywhere, the numbers still place him among the most productive players in England, he’s just operating ten yards further back.
The two goals and finishing gap are mostly bad luck. Two missed penalties and a few chances that on another day go in have made the numbers look harsher than the performances. The bigger picture is what Amorim will care about: United look steadier in possession, the play is more connected, and Bruno remains at the center of it all.
One More Thing About Bruno
Since arriving in February 2020, Bruno has created more chances than anyone else in the Premier League: 490 and counting. That record tells its own story. The goals will come again once the finishing luck evens out, but the consistency of his craft never really left. Take Bruno out this team and there’s no way this team gets better.
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