It is 437 minutes since Manchester United scored from open play. They have failed to find the net in four of their past eight matches and just hitting the target has proved difficult.

They mustered one shot on target in Sunday’s 4-0 surrender at Everton and had to wait until the 86th minute for that. Against Barcelona at Old Trafford, they did not trouble Marc-Andre ter Stegen even once and, at home to West Ham United three days later, there was only a solitary attempt on goal beyond Paul Pogba’s decisive two penalties.

But this is not a new problem. United have been toothless in front of goal since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013, a lack of cutting edge compounded by a creative vacuum in the final third of the pitch that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must at least begin to address this summer if next season is not to turn into another unsightly slog.

The bare statistics tell their own story. United have scored 169 fewer goals than Manchester City, tonight’s visitors to Old Trafford, over the past six Premier League campaigns, a whopping 28 goals fewer per season on average, but they have been comfortably outscored by all of their other top six rivals in that time, too. Whereas City have plundered 99 goals in all competitions at home this season, the champions face a team who have barely a third of that to their name at Old Trafford over the past nine months.