Bruno Fernandes’ crazy injury record has finally been blighted and Man United’s win percentage plummets when he’s not playing – leaving Ruben Amorim with a nightmare before Christmas

Manchester United could take some positives from their 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa but there was one glaring negative aside from the result.

Towards the end of the first half at Villa Park, captain Bruno Fernandes pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury.

He played the remainder of that half but did not reappear after the interval and was replaced by Lisandro Martinez.

And United manager Ruben Amorim later confirmed his playmaker is set for a spell on the sidelines.

‘It was a soft tissue injury so he will miss some games for sure,’ Amorim conceded during his post-match interview.

‘You can never control these things. He is a guy who is always fit so he can recover quite well.’

The Manchester United captain pulled up in the first half of their 2-1 loss at Aston Villa

It is unclear how long Fernandes will be out for but the 31-year-old’s absence from the Red Devils line-up has been a rarity since making his debut on February 1, 2020.

In fact it’s so rare that the statistics are hard to believe.

Manchester United host Newcastle on Boxing Day but Fernandes’ absence will just be the fourth time he has missed a game due to injury or illness.

He missed one game with the flu in March 2022 and two games because of a knee injury in May 2024.

Breaking it down further reveals more cause for concern for United.

In 292 matches in all competitions with Fernandes starting, United boast a 51.7 per cent win ratio, compared with 45.2 per cent without him.

This discrepancy is even bigger when you focus solely on the Premier League.

In the 208 games where the playmaker has featured in the top-flight, United have a 48.6 per cent win ratio – but without him it drops to just 29.4 per cent.

The impact of Fernandes’ injury was not lost on team-mate Diogo Dalot, who described it as a huge blow.

Fernandes has only missed three games for United due to illness or injury

‘It’s massive. We don’t know how bad it is but for him to come off, we know how tough he is,’ Dalot said after the Aston Villa loss. ‘Hopefully it’s not too bad and we keep with him for the next games.

‘This is the time that opportunities come for other players and the time you step up and show you deserve to be in the team and play more minutes.

‘I think that’s how the players who get opportunities should look at it. We are Manchester United and we have to find a way to win.’

That’s been hard enough with Fernandes in the side of late, so they will need to be at their very best for Boxing Day’s clash against Newcastle and beyond while their captain gets on the road to recovery.