Lukaku's embarrassing numbers against the Premier League 'big six'
Romelu Lukaku's poor overall performance in the Manchester derby on Sunday brought to a light a worrying statistic from the United striker involving his poor record in big games.
Manchester United spent £75 million on Lukaku in the summer, signing him from Everton, and his recent form, as well as his contribution against bigger teams, is something which might worry the Red Devils.
In his last 40 Premier League games against the so-called big six teams, the Belgian striker has scored just five goals. Before the summer, that statistic may have been surprising, given that Lukaku was playing for a weaker Everton team, but since arriving at Old Trafford his record has not improved.
His move to United has not improved the numbers and has instead highlighted them like never before. The 24-year-old has now faced all of United's top-six rivals this season and is yet to get on the scoresheet.
On top of this, he has only been involved in a goal against a 'big six' side on one occasion. The former Everton man provided the assist for Anthony Martial in United's 1-0 win over Tottenham. In the 0-0 draw with Liverpool, 3-1 victory over Arsenal and 1-0 and 2-1 defeats to Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, Lukaku failed to make any kind of impact.
And it's not just against the big sides where the £75 million summer signing has struggled in recent weeks. His only goals in his last 14 United appearances have been the fourth in the comfortable home win over Newcastle and an equaliser against CSKA Moscow in a Champions League tie where Mourinho's side were already all but guaranteed qualification to the last 16.
After an electric start to the season, perhaps down to a generous run of fixtures, United will be hoping Lukaku can turn his fortunes in recent weeks around, with eight Premier League games before they come up another big-six rival when they face Tottenham at Wembley at the end of January.