5 Premier League Teams Dramatically Better Since The Restart (And 5 Much Worse)
1. Better - Manchester United
With only a handful of matches to settle into Premier League football followed by a three month delay, most of the arrivals in the January transfer window have had little opportunity to make an impact. Not so Bruno Fernandes.
At the time Man United's activity in January was seen as underwhelming, spending much of their time trying to secure a quality striker before seemingly panic buying Odion Ighalo on loan from China. But Fernandes has definitely been the signing of the season.
Not only have his individual performances been superb, he has helped to unlock the quality of the players around him. We always knew that young forwards like school meal hero Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood had a lot of talent, but now they were playing with a newfound consistency that suggested the desperation for a new striker in January was unnecessary.
The only team unbeaten in the Premier League since it returned, the Red Devils' win rate may put them just behind their noisy neighbours in second on the post-lockdown standings. But their transformation has been greater and more impactful.
For much of the season it looked like Champions League football would be a long shot and Ole Gunnar Solskjær the latest manager to fail to return United to their past greatness. But this late run proved the doubters wrong and did it with the free-flowing attacking football that the Old Trafford faithful love to see.
United take a 5-0 lead into the second leg of their Europa League last 16 tie with LASK when the competition restarts next week. Could this unconventional season yet yield a trophy for Solskjær and his team?