Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund is enduring a miserable campaign, having scored just two Premier League goals to date in 2024-25.
The Denmark international looks as though he’s struggling badly with confidence at the moment and could do with being taken out of the firing line.
Seventeen-year-old Chido Obi-Martin has been tipped to take Hojlund’s place in Ruben Amorim’s starting XI after a bright cameo against Fulham in the FA Cup.
We’ve identified eight players we can’t believe have outscored Hojlund in the league this season.
Jamie Vardy
Nothing should surprise us when it comes to the Red Bull-powered former England international. He is eternal.
But if you stop and consider it for a second, it’s kind of wild that a 38-year-old who was in the Championship last season, with a task as thankless as leading the line for a side as downright rancid as Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City, has outscored Manchester United’s main striker.
Not only has Vardy scored five more Premier League goals than Hojlund this season, but he’s also notched three assists. Hojlund has none.
Jhon Duran
On the one hand, you already know that Duran has outscored Hojlund this season. His hot streak and penchant for scoring blooters in the first half of the season was well documented.
But imagine someone breaking down this particular situation five or ten years back:
A player Aston Villa signed from an MLS club, who has made just six Premier League starts in 2024-25, with fewer than half as many minutes as Manchester United’s £72million No.9, their only recognised senior centre-forward. He’s scored five more league goals (seven to two), despite having left for Saudi Arabia five weeks ago.
Funny old game, eh?
Harvey Barnes
You can file this one alongside Duran.
Barnes remains a fringe player at Newcastle United, rarely trusted by Eddie Howe to feature from the off. The winger has started just six Premier League games this season and played 500 fewer minutes than Hojlund.
Like Hojlund, Barnes last found himself on the scoresheet before Christmas. But he’s still scored three more goals than the Dane this season, having notched against Tottenham, Wolves, Fulham, Brentford and Nottingham Forest.
Jordan Ayew
You can never fault the experienced Ghanaian forward’s endeavour, but a dead-eyed hotshot he is not. He averaged just 3.5 Premier League goals a season at Crystal Palace, only once scoring more than four.
Even he – and in this relegation-doomed Leicester side – has scored twice as many Premier League goals (four to two) as Hojlund this season. That’s as damning as it gets.
Ethan Nwaneri
The Hale End wonderkid doesn’t turn 18 until later this month, but already he’s outscored United’s main man up top.
And that’s with 10 fewer starts and 800 fewer minutes in the Premier League this season. Ridiculous, really.
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Gabriel Jesus
The Brazilian made 17 Premier League appearances (six starts) this season prior to the ACL injury he suffered in January’s FA Cup clash with Manchester United.
He failed to score in 15 of those 17 outings, but he’s still ahead of Hojlund in the scoring charts.
A brilliantly-taken hat-trick in Arsenal’s 3-2 League Cup victory over Crystal Palace kickstarted Jesus’ season. He followed that up with a brace against Oliver Glasner’s Eagles in the league a few days later and subsequently scored against Brentford before his season was prematurely cut short.
Trevoh Chalobah
The defender scored three goals on loan at Crystal Palace before being recalled by parent club Chelsea in January.
We can also include Nikola Milenkovic, Gabriel Magalhaes and Marc Guehi in the list of centre-backs who have outscored Hojlund in the Premier League this season, with three goals apiece.
Central defenders Dean Huijsen, Ethan Pinnock, Fabian Schar, Jan Bednarek, Michael Keane, William Saliba, Nathan Collins and Manchester United team-mates Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs De Ligt are also level on Premier League goals for the season so far with two.
Marcus Rashford
Surprisingly enough, three of Rashford’s four Premier League goals this season came with Amorim in the dugout.
Only Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo have scored more league goals for the Red Devils under the Portuguese coach, despite Rashford getting bombed out of the squad early in his tenure.
That works out as a league goal every 73 minutes under Amorim for Rashford. Hojlund, by contrast, has scored one goal in 929 of Premier League action under the current boss.
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