Manchester United’s struggles this season have been laid bare by a statistic about Arsenal’s goalscoring form in February.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Gabriel of Arsenal celebrates his team's first goal, an own-goal scored by Sven Botman of Newcastle United (not pictured), during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on February 24, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Gabriel of Arsenal celebrates his team’s first goal, an own-goal scored by Sven Botman of Newcastle United (not pictured), during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on February 24, 2024. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Arsenal have had a fantastic month of Premier League football, kicking off February with a 3-1 win over Liverpool, then beating West Ham United and Burnley 6-0 and 5-0 respectively away from home, before ending on a 4-1 win over Newcastle United.

The number of goals the Gunners have scored in February was underlined in a tweet from Duncan Alexander, who pointed out that it was half as many Premier League goals as Manchester United have scored all season.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrates scoring his team's third goal with teammates during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on February 24, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrates scoring his team’s third goal with teammates during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on February 24, 2024. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

That’s not the only amusing comparison you can made between Arsenal and Manchester United at the moment.

The Gunners have a goal difference 39 goals superior to United’s, which is more goals than United have scored.

So even if United doubled their goal tally (and gained 14 points on Arsenal) they’d still be behind the Gunners on goal difference.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrate after their teammate Jakub Kiwior of Arsenal (not pictured) scores his team's fourth goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on February 24, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrate after their teammate Jakub Kiwior of Arsenal (not pictured) scores his team’s fourth goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on February 24, 2024. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Of course, it’s not as if Manchester United are the only team struggling to score regularly. You could make the same comparison with all of the teams in the bottom half of the league except Chelsea.

Arsenal’s 18 goals in February are just four goals shy of Sheffield United’s 22 for the season, which is an encouraging sign ahead of next Monday’s fixture between the two.

But Manchester United are probably the club who should feel the most embarrassed at just how far they are behind the top three in goalscoring terms.