Manchester United's compact shape is a possible explanation for why they tend to play better away from home, according to midfielder Fred.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are currently on a 20-game unbeaten streak on the road in the Premier League, with all their defeats this season coming at Old Trafford.
United travel to Crystal Palace this evening — one of the teams who have beaten them in Manchester this season. And Fred admitted it's hard to explain the difference between United's form home and away.
“I don’t know. It’s hard to say,” Fred told United's in-house media when asked to explain the variance.
“I think we’re playing very well away from home. We’re very compact and playing well as a team.
“I don’t know what’s happening to the team at home, but we’ve dropped some points that we shouldn’t have dropped.
“We’re working hard on that and we’re looking to give our all mentally so that we can play better at home and not drop any more points.”
Fred named Crystal Palace — United's opponents tonight — as another team, like Solskjaer's men, who have badly missed supporters this season amid ongoing covid-19 restrictions.
“When we play there [at Selhurst Park], the atmosphere is very good,” Fred added. “I think they really miss their fans, but I think that goes for everyone. We also really miss our supporters.
“Having 75,000 or 76,000 fans at Old Trafford was fantastic. We just hope that our fans can be back with us next season.
“We lost our first game against them [Palace] at home. We know they’re a tough side. We shouldn’t have dropped those points, but we’re going to try to do everything to recover and get the three points."
