Bryan Mbeumo has led the Man United attack since his arrival from Brentford but in his absence during AFCON Ruben Amorim needs someone else to step up.
Benjamin Sesko
Benjamin Sesko has had a slow start to life at United
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It's not been an easy business being a striker for Manchester United in recent years and Benjamin Sesko has found his start to life at Old Trafford to follow a familiar pattern. Two goals in his first 13 appearances tell the story of a centre-forward still getting to grips with the role.
Joshua Zirkzee has never convinced in the role and Rasmus Hojlund is now scoring goals for Napoli, having struggled to do the same for United. In search for a solution, Ruben Amorim spent nearly £74million on signing Sesko from RB Leipzig in the summer.
Hojlund could attest that leading the line in this system doesn't come with a guarantee of chances. The Dane didn't look up to the job, but his frustration also regularly boiled over when the final pass never came or opportunities didn't find their way to him.
It's been a similar story for Sesko, who has managed 18 shots in 12 Premier League games, six of which came in one game at Brentford. He has an xG of 2.1 in those games, which shows that chances just aren't coming to him. It's hard to be too critical in that regard and when the same happened to Hojlund, it starts to look like a pattern.
It has been a smoother start to life at United for Bryan Mbeumo, who has quickly become the attack leader and the player in the final third always the likeliest to make something happen. He has six goals in 16 games from an xG of 5.5 and has been a more dangerous outlet than Sesko.
But with Mbeumo now away at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), United need someone to step forward, and this feels like the moment Sesko can really make his mark on a new club. That was put to Amorim last week and he sought to take the pressure off his new striker, but did hint at a change in approach.
"I think it's not just Ben, but everyone," he said. "I think we need to adapt a little bit the way we are going to play the games and that is a good opportunity to do that because we cannot think that we are going to play the same way without Amad, Bryan and Nous but especially Amad and Bryan because of the characteristics. that is really hard to get.
"They have more or less the same characteristics, both of them, and we are losing them for a few games, but it's a good opportunity for us to try to play in a different way."
That different way is something that looks more like a 4-3-3 and it might end up being a system that delivers more chances to the No.9. Sesko got only 22 minutes against Bournemouth and had a hand in Matheus Cunha's goal, but if he returns to the starting line-up at Villa Park it will be easier to judge him.
No player wants an injury, but the four matches Sesko has missed with a knee problem might have given him the chance to reset and take stock, to assess his start at United and what, if anything, needs to change.
He certainly needs to deliver more goals, although to do that he will need more chances. The next few weeks might offer an opportunity in that regard and Amorim will be hoping to see the best of Sesko over the festive period.