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Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford have scored a combined 13 goals this term
But Man United boss Jose Mourinho has yet to start them together in the League
Martial replaced Rashford as a sub to score a winner against Spurs on Saturday
But Rashford has still scored more goals, with Martial creating more chances

Published: 09:06 EDT, 29 October 2017 | Updated: 13:34 EDT, 29 October 2017

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Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford have been two of Manchester United's key players this season but they have not yet started a Premier League game together.

Manager Jose Mourinho seems to have decided that there is only room in his team for one of these tricky forwards. Martial has replaced Rashford or vice-versa as a sub in each of United's last four Premier League matches and in two of their three Champions League games.

On Saturday, Rashford started before being replaced on 70 minutes by Martial, who scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over Tottenham. It was the Frenchman's sixth goal of the season in all competitions - one fewer than Rashford's tally - but how do the two compare overall?

Marcus Rashford (left) and Anthony Martial (centre) have not started a 17-18 PL game together

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho seems to have space in his team for just one of them

WHO DOES MOURINHO FAVOUR RIGHT NOW?

Probably Rashford. He has played 16 games this season - two more than Martial, who has started just seven times, compared to the England star's 10.

Half of Martial's outings have come off the bench, while Rashford has started in 62.5 per cent of his appearances.

RASHFORD V MARTIAL THIS SEASON
	Rashford	Martial
Games played	16	14
Starts	10	7
Subbed on	6	7
Goals	7	6
Mins per goal	128	100
Assists	5	5
Chances created (per game)	15 (0.94)	19 (1.36)
Win % when starting	90	71

CASE FOR RASHFORD

Rashford has been more prolific, scoring one goal more than Martial.

United also have a higher win percentage with Rashford starting - 90 per cent compared to 71 per cent when Martial makes the first XI.

CASE FOR MARTIAL

Martial has been more efficient, averaging a goal every 100 minutes, while Rashford has taken more than two hours per strike.

Both players have provided five assists each, but Martial has created 19 chances - four more overall and 0.42 more per game on average than Rashford.

Martial replaced Rashford as a sub to scored the winner as United beat Spurs 1-0 on Saturday

It was Martial's sixth goal of the season in all competitions - his fourth in the Premier League

WHY CAN'T THEY PLAY TOGETHER?

They can, but Mourinho rarely needs both of them at the same time.

When United dominate possession, Mourinho prefers to use someone like Juan Mata or Henrikh Mkhitaryan who can pick apart a defence with intricate passes.

United do often rely on fast forwards when they play on the counter-attack - as they did against Spurs on Saturday - but, when the speedy Romelu Lukaku is leading their attack, just one of Rashford or Martial provide more than enough additional pace.

Later in the season when Mourinho has the luxury of resting Lukaku for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the manager might decide to compensate for the Swede's relative slowness by unleashing Martial and Rashford together.