Wasteful United

Not for the first time this season, Manchester United peppered their opponent's goal at Old Trafford on Sunday but were unable to come up with a winning strike.

Jose Mourinho's side fired off 17 shots against West Ham but after Zlatan Ibrahimovic cancelled out Diafra Sakho's early opener they were unable to hit the net again.

The 1-1 draw - which leaves United 11 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea - had similarities with their home ties with Burnley and Stoke City over the past two months. The Manchester club had 62 shots in those games combined but managed just one goal.

It's a recurring problem and raises questions about the quality of United's finishing. A closer look at the stats shows there's an issue.

Manchester United have created 164 chances in the Premier League this season, scoring 18 goals. On average, they score one goal for every 9.1 chances they create.

That's the third-worst conversion rate in the Premier League, ahead of only West Ham (9.7) and Southampton (11.7).

In contrast, Chelsea have created exactly the same number of chances as United but have scored 11 more goals, hitting the net 29 times from their 164 openings. That equates to one goal for every 5.7 chances created. Arsenal are even more efficient, scoring a goal for every five chances.

Opta also log clear-cut chances created and scored by teams. These are moments when a player would be reasonably expected to score, such as in one-on-one situations.

United are third in the table when it comes to creating clear-cut openings. They've fashioned 20 such chances - including two against West Ham - putting them behind only Liverpool (23) and Manchester City (25), two sides praised for their attacking football.

However, United have missed more of those clear-cut chances (18) than any other team in the Premier League. Their clear-cut chance conversion rate is the joint-worst in the division - on average they score just 30.77 per cent of those big openings, the same rate as Watford.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has missed nine clear-cut chances this season, three more than any other player in the Premier League. Paul Pogba (three), Marcus Rashford (two), Wayne Rooney (two), Juan Mata (one) and Jesse Lingard (one) have also been culpable.

Of course, there is the argument United are simply coming up against inspired goalkeeping. Stoke City's Lee Grant and Burnley's Tom Heaton received plaudits for their performances at Old Trafford, while Darren Randolph pulled off several fine stops for West Ham.

But Mourinho's men must find a way to be more clinical in front of goal if they are to stay in touch with the Premier League's leading sides.

Credit: Skysports.com