While Cristiano Ronaldo had only scored three goals in all competitions prior to his departure from Manchester United, his exit from Old Trafford increases the pressure on Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Antony to consistently get on the scoresheet.
United, who have scored 20 Premier League goals so far this season, have somewhat struggled in front of goal, especially in comparison to their fellow top-four challengers. Current league-leaders Arsenal have registered 33 goals, while Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool have scored 40, 31 and 28 respectively.
Rashford is currently the Reds' top goalscorer with eight goals in 19 appearances. However, Martial, who sits in second place, has only found the back of the net on four occasions. Erik ten Hag's side have also conceded a worrying amount of goals in the top flight, and yet, the club still sits in a healthy position in the league table, while also still competing in all relevant cup competitions.
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Bruno Fernandes has scored three times this term, with Scott McTominay - albeit while playing a bit-part role - recording two goals. Christian Eriksen and Casemiro have both bagged once so far this campaign, meaning the usual midfield trio - Fernandes, Eriksen and Casemiro - have registered just five goals between them.
It is, undoubtedly, an area that Ten Hag will be keen to improve on in the second half of the season, but with both Eriksen and Casemiro having scored in the final few matches before the break in the domestic campaign, there is hope that the pair will start to contribute more frequently in front of goal.
In October, after the Brazilian ace had scored his first Reds goal to salvage a point against Chelsea, Eriksen hailed his midfield partner for his impact at Old Trafford - while also calling on the former Real Madrid man to get more goals moving forward.
"I'm very pleased [Casemiro got his first goal]. He's a good guy and I think he's settled very well," he told in-house media. "He’s a good guy for the group and as we can see on the pitch he’s starting to show his value. He brings a lot of calmness and a lot of experience at the same time.
"He’s won a lot of trophies, a lot of games in his career so he knows how football is going to be played and he reads the game well."
The Brazilian's vital header against the London outfit came after Fernandes scored in the 2-0 win over Tottenham. At the time, Eriksen admitted that it was good to see midfielders getting in on the act of scoring. The Dane also encouraged them to increase this output in the second half of the campaign.
He added: "I think [speaking] as a midfielder, we need to get even more goals to help the team and really get the games easier to play. But it’s a start, we need to start somewhere - I’m late [at scoring this season] compared to the other ones but if the other guys keep going then it’ll be fine."
Eriksen registered 14 goals and 13 assists for Spurs in the 2017/18 campaign, while also recording 35 goal contributions in 46 matches for Ajax in the 2012/13 season. While his role in the current United side is completely different to the one he was tasked with at Spurs in that respective term, he has demonstrated that he is capable of delivering goals and assists, and he will need to show at least some of that in the next few months.
For Casemiro, his best goal return is seven goals for Madrid in the 2020/21 season. Given that he has been tasked with protecting his defence throughout his career, he has, and never will be, judged on his return in front of goal. Although Ten Hag is not expecting the Brazilian to be anywhere close to the top of the goalscoring charts, the Dutchman - and Eriksen - both want to see the 30-year-old chip in where possible.
Eriksen and Casemiro will both push each other to improve throughout this campaign, with the pair desperate to achieve success at Old Trafford. Neither of the midfielders will be judged on the number of goals they finish with, but with the Dane keen for his partner to get on the scoresheet - and Casemiro likely feeling the same - it can only help in moving United toward the end goal of winning silverware.
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