United are the youngest team in the Premier League

Manchester United have had the youngest team, on average, in the Premier League this season.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's commitment to youth and a reboot at the club is evident in the figures compiled by the transfermarkt.com website.

The average age of the Reds' line-up in the top flight is only 24 years this term, younger than nearest challengers Bournemouth, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Everton.

The most youthful XI named in the 2019/20 Premier League, to date, was United's selection for the home game against Brighton & Hove Albion on 10 November.

The Reds' team in a 3-1 win that day was: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Williams; McTominay, Fred; James, Andreas, Rashford; Martial.

The joint-second youngest side was our 4-1 victory over Newcastle United on Boxing Day, along with the team Arsenal caretaker boss Freddie Ljungberg picked for their game at Everton.

Of course, the most callow side to take the pitch this term came in the Europa League tie at Astana amid a busy schedule, with 36-year-old Lee Grant's inclusion in goal bringing the average age up to 22.1.

It was the joint-ninth youngest in the history of the competition and one of only three non-Dutch sides in the top 10. One of the others was Molde, managed by Ole, in a 2-0 defeat to Steaua Bucharest in October, 2012.

Remarkably, nine of the starting line-up were Academy players.

United's team that evening in Kazakhstan was: Grant; Laird, Tuanzebe, Bernard, Shaw; Garner, Levitt; Chong, Lingard, Gomes; Greenwood.

The Premier League stat certainly bodes well for the future and compares favourably to previous seasons.

The team's average age crept up to 27.2 in 2012/13 and the closest the Reds came to topping this particular table in recent seasons was when fourth in successive campaigns (2014/15 and 2015/16), some way behind the leaders on both occasions, Tottenham Hotspur.

Bruno Fernandes (25) and Odion Ighalo (30) arrived in January to provide some more experience and know-how but this clear investment of faith in youth must give optimism to every United supporter when the action resumes.