Manchester United vs Tottenham: 5 reasons why Alexis Sanchez could be key for the Red Devils

#3 His passing ability

Sanchez has the uncanny ability to play an accurate forward pass

Since his debut in the Premier League, Sanchez has completed 6038 passes, averaging almost 45 passes per game. Those are high numbers for a left forward. He has 28 assists to his name during that time and has created 47 chances.

He also has completed 375 crosses. No one in the current United team come close to those numbers and that's why Sanchez is such a vital cog in the Manchester United system right now.

Last season, Sanchez played 1455 passes, the most of all forward players in the Premier League. Since joining United in January, Sanchez completed 582 passes. For the record, in the whole of last season, Martial completed 731 passes and Rashford completed 576 passes.

The former Arsenal man also had the most touches on the ball among all the forward players in the league last season – 2165. Hazard with 2010 touches was second. There are no United players in the top 20 in that list.

Sanchez completed 97 crosses in the Premier League last season, whereas Rashford and Martial could conjure 81 and 48 respectively. In addition, Sanchez attempted 29 through balls last season, second only to Kevin De Bryne in the whole of the league. His United teammate and current captain, Paul Pogba attempted 15.

Sanchez has the ability to bring his teammates into the play. He holds the ball well, switches flanks with ease and has a range of passes in his arsenal. United will need his passing abilities and his vision against Tottenham.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

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Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

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Edited by Debjyoti Samanta