Joshua Zirkzee's impact for Man Utd, Elliot Anderson's Luka Modric stats and Boubacar Kamara feature in the Debrief

Welcome to The Debrief, a Sky Sports column in which Adam Bate uses a blend of data and opinion to reflect on some of the key stories from the latest Premier League matches. This week:

• Zirkzee's turnaround key for Man Utd
• Anderson and his Modric-like numbers
• Kamara and Villa's long-range record

Zirkzee turnaround key for Man Utd

It is far too early to call it a turning point but credit is due to Joshua Zirkzee for his contribution to Manchester United's come-from-behind win away to Crystal Palace on Sunday. Faith in the much-maligned forward had long since faded prior to this performance.

After failing to seize his opportunity at home to Everton on Monday evening, Zirkzee struggled for 45 minutes at Selhurst Park too. Indeed, the contrast between him and Jean-Philippe Mateta looked likely to prove one of the obvious reasons for Palace's success.

Instead, Zirkzee scored a smart equaliser from a tight angle and then won the header that led to United getting the free-kick from which Mason Mount was able to score the winner. His contribution earned the praise of head coach Ruben Amorim at the end.

"It was not just the goals, even the runs behind. In the first half, he struggled in the duels. He won some duels in the second half and we improved a lot because of the quality of Josh in the second half and that is important for him to understand it is not just goals."

The statistics support the claim. Zirkzee won twice as many aerial duels - such as the one that led to the second goal - in the final half an hour of the game than he had in the first hour. "We played better because Josh played better in the second half," said Amorim.

His pass success leapt from 57 per cent to 77 per cent. His confidence boosted by his first Premier League goal in almost a year, Zirkzee actually finished the match having made six successful layoffs, the most by any player over the Premier League weekend.

It did not quite match his own record in the competition of seven against Everton last season but, for context, it is seven years, and back to the days of Romelu Lukaku at Old Trafford, since another United forward registered so many successful layoffs in a game.

It might seem a peculiar little statistic but Zirkzee ranked third in Serie A for such passes in his final season with Bologna. They are not only a feature of his game but having a player who United can bounce passes off is fundamental to Amorim's plan working.

Zirkzee had to show more physicality to make it possible and, belatedly, he did that. It is 18 months now since the Dutchman signed for the club and one recalls a conversation with Willem Weijs, his former coach at Anderlecht, that hinted at this required growth.

"That can sometimes be a problem for players," Weijs tells Sky Sports. "They believe that it is only about skills and scoring goals and playing nice football but professional football demands other things of players." Against Palace, Zirkzee showed those qualities.

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Anderson's Modric-like numbers

This column usually picks out three individual performances that contributed to their team achieving positive results but Elliot Anderson's efforts demand a rethink. Nottingham Forest were beaten 2-0 at home to Brighton but his stats were noteworthy.

Anderson created six chances in the game and completed six dribbles. No other Premier League player managed either feat over the weekend. The only player to hit both numbers in the same game so far this season is Arsenal's Bukayo Saka in October.

Unlike Saka, Anderson's 13 ball recoveries were also a Premier League high in a game in which the midfielder had 107 touches. This remarkable combination of the ability to win the ball, run with it and create, is vanishingly rare even at the elite level of the game.

Perhaps the context will make that clear. The last central midfield player to create so many chances in a Premier League game, while also hitting these numbers, not to mention intercepting and displaying a range of pass too, was Luka Modric in 2011.

Fourteen years have passed since that performance for Tottenham against Blackpool. Another similarity is that Spurs failed to win that day too. Even so, Anderson's numbers show why the in-demand England international is seen as someone who can do everything.

Kamara example of Villa's shooting

On the subject of those midfielders who are able to do it all, Aston Villa needed a wonderful strike from their holding player Boubacar Kamara to beat bottom club Wolves at Villa Park on Sunday. It came with his weaker left foot from outside the penalty area.

The goal was the ninth that Villa have scored from outside the box. That is not only more than any other Premier League team this season but more than Villa have scored from inside the box and more than Wolves have scored in total. That is surely unsustainable.

Do not try to tell Unai Emery that. One journalist attempted a joke in the press conference afterwards, playfully suggesting to Emery that the Villa boss might try to tell us that Kamara scores goals like that every day in training. He remained typically straight-faced.

Emery talked of how his players are "practising a lot every training session and shooting like that" and pointed out that given Wolves were "defending so low" the ability to score from that range was essential. "We are responding as a team tactically," he explained.

The expected-goals data tells us that Villa must find other ways. But Kamara showed again that he is whatever his team needs him to be. "That is what it has taken to beat us today," said Wolves boss Rob Edwards. "A world-class finish from a brilliant footballer."

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Joshua Zirkzee's impact for Man Utd, Elliot Anderson's Luka Modric stats and Boubacar Kamara feature in the Debrief