Michael Carrick’s tactical change has given Bruno Fernandes room to operate in the right-side pocket behind the front line, and the results are clear. Carrick restored United’s skipper to the No. 10 role after a period in Ruben Amorim’s two-man midfield, and Fernandes says the move has altered his positioning. “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 positional freedom has put Fernandes on the cusp of two Premier League landmarks with four matches left in the season. He has 19 assists in 2025–26, level with Mesut Özil on the season charts and one behind the all-time single-season mark of 20 set by Thierry Henry and matched by Kevin De Bruyne in 2019–20. No player in the 34-year history of the Premier League has provided more than 20 assists in a single campaign, and Sunday’s derby with Liverpool presents a high-profile chance to close that gap.

Fernandes showed the shift in focus at Brentford, taking no shots as he concentrated on creating. Eventually, Benjamin Šeško finished one of the five chances Fernandes created, taking the skipper to 19 assists and a single assist behind the record.

If Matheus Cunha recovers from a slight hip issue, he is the likeliest direct beneficiary. As Opta note, Cunha has received 19 open-play chances from Fernandes this season—the most chances any player has been provided by a single teammate in the current Premier League campaign.

There is also a set-piece subplot. 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 sits on 10 set-piece assists, one shy of Steven Gerrard’s top-flight record of 11. The midfielder has worked on dead balls and admits the demands have changed: “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.”

This collection presents one hundred answers drawn from a broad Premier League quiz that covers origins, records, transfers and obscure trivia. The aim here is not to explain every question but to give a clear sense of the material contained in the original set.

Sample entries and answers from the quiz include: Answer: 1992–93. Answer: First Division. Answer: 20. Answer: Three. Answer: UEFA. Answer: Seven (Arsenal , Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea , Leicester City, Liverpool , Man City , Man Utd). Answer: Wimbledon FC (Dissolved in June 2004). Answer: Sky. Answer: Old Trafford (Manchester United). Answer: Manchester United (15). Answer: James Milner. Answer: 100. Answer: Norwich City (Six). Answer: Alan Shearer (260). Answer: Derby County (11 points, 2007–08). Answer: Arsenal. Answer: Ryan Giggs (162). Answer: Erling Haaland (Manchester City). Answer: Petr Čech (202). Answer: Kenny Dalglish.

The answers further record managerial and transfer details: Answer: Manuel Pellegrini (Chilean, with Manchester City in 2013–14). Answer: Sir Alex Ferguson. Answer: Claudio Ranieri (Leicester City, 2015–16), Antonio Conte (Chelsea, 2016–17), Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea, 2009–10), Roberto Mancini (Manchester City, 2011–12). Answer: Arsène Wenger (828). Answer: Igor Tudor. Answer: Luiz Felipe Scolari (Chelsea, 2008–09). Answer: Rob Edwards. Answer: Arne Slot.

Other entries cite stadiums, clubs, fees, and notable incidents: Answer: Southampton. Answer: Alexis Sánchez. Answer: Robinho. Answer: Alexander Isak (Newcastle United to Liverpool, $169 million). Answer: Sol Campbell. Answer: Romelu Lukaku. Answer: Peter Odemwingie. Answer: Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid). Answer: Sporting CP. Answer: £50 million ($67 million). Answer: Ali Dia. Answer: Mario Balotelli. Answer: Sadio Mané (for Southampton vs. Aston Villa).

The list also preserves nicknames and slogans exactly as given: “Fire & Ice”, “God”, “Why Always Me?”. This compilation is a concise companion to the full 100-question set and highlights the range of topics the quiz covers.

Bruno Fernandes has reached 140 Premier League goal involvements after providing an assist for Manchester United against Brentford, a milestone that places him level with Cristiano Ronaldo in that specific metric.

Since his arrival at the Red Devils in January 2020, Fernandes has now recorded 70 Premier League goals and 70 assists. That combination gives him 140 goal contributions from 226 appearances for United in the competition.

By comparison, Cristiano Ronaldo’s record to the same total required more appearances. It took Ronaldo 233 appearances to record his 140th Premier League goal involvement, seven games more than Fernandes needed. The underlying breakdown in the comparison shows Ronaldo with 103 goals and 37 assists in the Premier League as presented in the same set of statistics.

Fernandes’s creativity has been a defining feature of his six-year tenure at United. His next goal involvement will see Fernandes eclipse his international teammate. If it is an assist, it will also move the 31-year-old level with Henry and De Bruyne’s assist record, with another creative landmark then in his sights.

There is also a broader assist benchmark within the league and across Europe. The Premier League’s single-season assist record sits at 20. Across the top five European leagues the record is marginally higher: Lionel Messi and Thomas Müller each finished the 2019–20 season with 21 league assists, the only two occasions anyone exceeded 20 in the recorded history covered.

United have four Premier League games remaining this season. If Fernandes provides one more assist he will tie the league’s single-season record; two more assists would move him level with Messi and Müller at the top of the European ranking for a single season.