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It is the wee hours of a Monday morning and Manchester United have just lost again. The Kop chorused to 'We're gonna to win the league' around eight hours earlier and the 2-0 defeat is giving Andreas Pereira a sleepless night.

He played for 74 minutes at Anfield in his preferred role as the No.10 and had a chance to equalise in the first-half. He played Anthony Martial through in the second-half yet the attempt endangered Scousers in the Anfield Road End. Sliding doors.

Pereira occupied the same role in the same 3-4-1-2 formation in the reverse fixture and helped United become the sole Premier League side to take a point off Liverpool. Pereira banked credits for his hassling of Fabinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer banked on a repeat performance. Jordan Henderson grabbed the game by the lapels and was the man of the match. Pereira was sacrificed for Juan Mata.

The adrenaline and frustration is still coursing through Pereira at his Cheshire home as he obsesses over the minutiae of the match into the early hours of Monday morning. He rewatches and wonders why Aaron Wan-Bissaka could not have cushioned the cross he stretched for at The Kop and why Martial connected with his laces rather than his instep,.

Three days later, his position changes to the right flank against Burnley and Pereira is withdrawn at half-time. United lose 2-0 again. On Saturday night, his position changes twice against Wolves - to central midfield in the first-half and then to the left flank in the second. He is withdrawn in the 72nd minute.

Pereira, 24, has already made good on Solskjaer's July prediction in Perth's opulent Crown Towers hotel he would start '20 this season, maybe even more'. The Brazilian has started 24 times and emerged as a substitute on 10 occasions. In his three previous campaigns with United, Pereira amassed 11 starts and 25 cameos. He had 34 starts with relegated La Liga side Granada in 2016-17 and 18 for Valencia in 2017-18.

Only Wan-Bissaka, James, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, David de Gea and Marcus Rashford have lined up in more league matches this season and the step up and expectation have been profound for Pereira. He trended on Twitter in the UK on Saturday evening and Pereira is understood to be 'upset' by comments.

Sources close to Pereira say he has been 'up and down mentally' this season amid the intense scrutiny that comes with playing regularly for United. Some who have known him for years fret Pereira is 'too nice' for the cutthroat environment of a United dressing room. It sheds a new light on a player's struggles in a struggling season for his team.

Pereira has such an amiable nature about him he was the only player who shook hands with reporters at the start of United's pre-season in 2018. Pereira used that training base at the UCLA and the tour of the United States to force his way into Jose Mourinho's starting XI with a magnificent free-kick against Liverpool in The Big House. Pereira was the standout performer in a turbulent tour he played the most minutes in.

He started in the season opener against Leicester - but as the 'number six' midfielder. Pereira has made little secret of his preference to occupy the playmaker role but, after an underwhelming second campaign in Spain with Valencia, was grateful to have the opportunity to start in a midfield recently reinforced by the £52million Fred.

Those close to Pereira had urged him to push back on Mourinho's plans for him as a holding midfielder, adamant the attack-minded Pereira was not a defensive-minded midfielder. "Mourinho was 'f------ with him," a source told the MEN.

Solskjaer enjoys managing Pereira partially because he is obedient and strives to follow the manager's instructions. Pereira could not pass up a maiden Premier League start against Leicester and fared well in a 2-1 win, but had had been warned by confidants he would come unstuck in his stint as the six.

Eight days later at Brighton he did. Davy Propper and Dale Stephens swamped Pereira and he was hooked at the interval. Pereira did not start another league match for over five months and Solskjaer committed the same error as Mourinho; starting Pereira in midfield against Burnley, who took a 2-0 lead.

Pereira was cruelly cheered off at the weekend against Wolves by some supporters, unaware of the strife he is experiencing. He deputised for the suspended Nemanja Matic in midfield and recorded a 91 per cent passing accuracy but, against the old-school axis of Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho, Pereira won four out of 19 duels and was dispossessed seven times.

Duels with seasoned central midfielders are never going to be Pereira's forte and he committed three fouls against Wolves. He joked earlier in the season he had learnt to 'kick' opponents and that signalled a worrying shift. Pereira has one goal, four assists and 34 fouls to his name this term.

Analysts note some of Pereira's better performances against Norwich City, Newcastle and Burnley were when United had the majority of possession and Pereira played off Martial. Pereira enjoys a friendly relationship with Martial and finds him easier to link up with than Marcus Rashford, whose play is considered more off-the-cuff.

Those close to Pereira still wonder whether he should have relocated permanently to Spain, where the slower tempo is more conducive to his play. Pereira moved to Manchester from Eindhoven eight years ago as a 16-year-old, signed a new four-year contract in the summer and wants to end his career at United.

Pereira recently bought a house in Hale and his partner is expecting their firstborn imminently. That does not constitute much of a winter break but fatherhood offers escapism for a victim of United's unstable structure and Solskjaer's sound bites.