It seems as though every matchday threatens to be Jose Mourinho’s last at Manchester United, yet on Saturday, when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea, even the stubborn Portuguese coach will surely have to admit that defeat could prove to be the final straw that broke this camel’s back.

The Old Trafford side are already five points off fourth place in the Premier League table, which suggests Saturday’s test in west London is undoubtedly one in which Mourinho’s side need to pick up at least a point.

However, that looks entirely unlikely. Not only are Maurizio Sarri’s side undefeated in their last eight league matches, but they’ve also won seven of their last eight games against Man Utd. In fact, Saturday’s visitors haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since 2012. And when we look at the stats behind their poor performances this season it’s easy to see why that’s unlikely to change against Chelsea.

Indeed, Man Utd’s key fault is the manner in which they struggle to score or even attack with the same vigour and regularity of the Premier League’s other top clubs. At the moment Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side are averaging 2.48 goals every 90 minutes. Arsenal and Chelsea aren’t too far behind, with 2.22 and 2.12 respectively, yet Mourinho’s side currently sit eighth in the division with just 1.51.

This is largely down to the fact that United can’t seem to find a consistent goalscorer among their star-studded squad. Although Romelu Lukaku’s four goals in eight league matches is by no means terrible, his goalscoring form stands as a notable outlier against the backdrop of a team with no other, clear signs of goals at all.

While Eden Hazard and Pedro currently average 1.02 and 0.73 goals per 90 minutes in the Premier League for Chelsea this season, Lukaku’s record stands at a worrying 0.51. In effect, Man United’s only goalscorer is scoring half as many goals on average as Hazard and considerably less than Chelsea’s second best forward.   

Similarly, while Man City may be averaging 18.66 shots per 90 minutes and Chelsea may be firing around 15.41 towards goal each match, the Red Devils can only muster 12.99 at the moment. Which, if context is really needed, is only slightly better than what Wolves’ average most weekends.

This is almost certainly down to Man United’s complete inability to create chances as well as their rivals in the English top flight. While Mourinho’s side may be fourth in the division for the sheer amount of passes they make in to the final third, they drop down to sixth when it comes to through passes and passes directly in to the opposing box.

Indeed, while Man Utd may put more passes in to the opposing box than the league average, their current record is almost half that of Man City’s. While Chelsea, who average 16.24 deep completion passes per 90 minutes, tend to make about five more of these vital passes per game than Mourinho’s side. Essentially, United simply aren’t creating enough chances and as such they aren’t scoring as many goals.

Intriguingly, Pogba currently sits seventh in the division among his peers when it comes to how many of these piercing passes he’s made so far this season. And the French international is also second in the division when it comes to through passes too. Yet, like Lukaku’s goalscoring, the midfielder seems to stand alone among a United squad truly lacking in alternatives.

While Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and perhaps even Arsenal may be able to rely upon two or three consistent goalscorers and playmakers throughout the season to keep the entire squad ticking along, Man United seem to have a single source for goals and a single source for creating them. That, ultimately, is why they continue to falter under Mourinho and why they face a truly daunting task at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.