Bruno Fernandes credited the tactical instructions imparted to him by Michael Carrick as a key factor behind his record-setting creative output in the Premier League.
Since Carrick’s appointment in the middle of January, Fernandes has rattled off 11 assists in 13 top-flight matches. Not only is this the highest tally of any player across Europe’s top five league during the same period, it is the same haul which Barcelona starlet Lamine Yamal has amassed across the entire La Liga campaign.
Many of Fernandes’s most recent assists have come specifically from the right side of the final third, an area of the pitch which was effectively off limits to him while acting as one of two central midfielders in Ruben Amorim’s restrictive system. Carrick promptly restored United’s skipper to the No. 10 position following a change of formation.
“I float a lot in that zone there now with Michael,” Fernandes reflected in an interview with Opta. “He doesn’t want me to just be stuck in the middle, so often asks me to find that pocket [of space].”
That cunning tactical detail has set Fernandes up for a potentially historic end to the Premier League campaign. There are still four games of the season remaining for the creative maestro to work his magic, but he could begin rewriting the record books on the grand stage of Manchester United’s derby with Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
Most Assists in a Single Premier League Season
| Rank / Player | Season | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| T-1. Thierry Henry | 2002–03 | 20 |
| T-1. Kevin De Bruyne | 2019–20 | 20 |
| T-3. Bruno Fernandes | 2025–26 | 19 |
| T-3. Mesut Özil | 2015–16 | 19 |
| T-5. Kevin De Bruyne | 2016–17 | 18 |
| T-5. Cesc Fàbregas | 2014–15 | 18 |
| T-5. Frank Lampard | 2004–05 | 18 |
| T-5. Mohamed Salah | 2024–25 | 18 |
This is the most obvious marker which Fernandes is chasing down. No player in the 34-year history of the Premier League has every teed up more than 20 goals for their teammates across the same season. Remarkably, Kevin De Bruyne is the only player who has even been able to match the high watermark Thierry Henry set for Arsenal 23 years ago (however, De Bruyne didn’t also score 24 league goals that same year, like the legendary Frenchman).
This record is one which has clearly been playing on Fernandes’s mind lately. The trigger-happy skipper refrained from taking a single shot against Brentford on Monday night, focusing instead on exclusively creating chances for his teammates. Eventually, Benjamin Šeško finished off one of the five which Fernandes teed up to take the Portuguese midfielder just one behind the all-time record.
Should Matheus Cunha recover from his slight hip injury to feature against Liverpool, the Brazilian is the most likely player to benefit from Fernandes’s selfish selflessness. As Opta point out, the summer recruit has had 19 open-play chances created by his fellow Portuguese speaker—the most any player has received from a single teammate in this season’s Premier League campaign.
Most Set-Piece Assists in a Single Premier League Season
| Rank / Player | Season | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Steven Gerrard | 2013–14 | 11 |
| T-2. Bruno Fernandes | 2025–26 | 10 |
| T-2. Muzzy Izzet | 2003–04 | 10 |
| T-4. Chris Brunt | 2014–15 | 9 |
| T-4. Nicky Shorey | 2007–08 | 9 |
Cunha may be the chief beneficiary of Fernandes’s chance creation, but Casemiro has proven to be his deadliest partner. United’s No. 8 has set the former Real Madrid man up for six Premier League goals this season—another division high—five of which have come from set pieces.
Fernandes is just one free kick or corner away from equalling Steven Gerrard’s record for 11 set-piece assists in a single top-flight campaign. It would be fitting for that milestone to be surpassed in a season which has been dominated by dead balls across the division. As Fernandes himself admitted, his focus on this side of the game has ratcheted up recently.
“I will tell you that five years ago, I would go to take a corner and just put the ball into the middle of the box and let’s see if someone gets it,” he revealed. “And nowadays I have to hit a spot, so sometimes it’s even harder to get an assist from a set piece than it actually is in open play.”
The Other Milestones Bruno Fernandes Is Chasing This Season
Assists are one thing, but Fernandes is not benefitting from a particular finishing hot streak from his teammates. The 31-year-old is just five away from matching his personal record of 119 chances created in a single Premier League season. Regardless of what wizardry Fernandes can conjure against Liverpool, there is no way he will be able to catch the all-time competition record of 146 set by Mesut Özil for Arsenal in 2015–16.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Two All-Time Premier League Records Bruno Fernandes Could Break vs. Liverpool.
