Against Tottenham at Wembley last midweek, Alexis Sanchez managed to go an entire game without taking a shot on target for the first time this season - despite not really playing at his best for a struggling Arsenal side for the majority of the season.

Last weekend, he made up for that and then some in a stunning performance that could well have been portrayed in an ad for a well-known battery-making company for the sheer magnitude of its endurance and omniscience.

Against Huddersfield Town at home, Manchester United will obviously have expected to win and win comfortably, even taking into account their defeat at the John Smith’s Stadium earlier in the season. But on Saturday afternoon, Alexis Sanchez turned on the heat by anyone’s standards.

Despite missing a penalty - but scoring the rebound - the Chilean had a stunning game. He managed 122 touches of the ball, more than any player apart from Nemanja Matic. That stat would be impressive anyway, but when you’re playing on the left wing it’s even better.

It’s what he did with those touches which count, though. Six shots and ten dribbles are clearly wonderful stats in any game, and it certainly makes up for the drought at Wembley. But more important was the former Arsenal man’s defensive contribution.

Despite the fact that Huddersfield managed only 26% possession, Sanchez still found the time to make five tackles, more than any other United player, as he was successful at stopping counter-attacks and generally helping out those behind him.

His all-round performance is encouraging for Manchester United, who have clearly needed a creative spark of a player to be that link between their defence - the best in the league - and their attack, which can be lethal on its day. With the Champions League just around the corner, too, this could be a case of peaking at exactly the right time with a team eminently capable of winning the competition.

The only downside is the worry that Sanchez is attempting to do too much. He is clearly eager, and has always been seen as a player who can be selfish on the ball. When you’re as good as he is, it’s not always a problem, but the fact he was dispossessed five times shows that anyone can lose the ball from time to time. Against better teams, United’s back four could be exposed on the counter-attack.

https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/fm2mc-aleximkhi.mp4