Can Man Utd shore up defence without losing their cutting edge?

Manchester United are currently the Premier League's great entertainers.

Their 10 games so far this season have yielded 33 goals, more than any of their top-flight rivals.

They have scored 17 of those 33 and conceded a worrying 16.

On only three occasions has one team not scored in one of their games and United have just one clean sheet.

Ruben Amorim's men certainly appear to have solved old issues going forward, with only four clubs having scored more than their 17 goals this season, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool netting just once more.

Liverpool (32 total goals, 18 scored), Brighton (32 total goals, 17 scored) and Bournemouth (31 total goals, 17 scored) are the next biggest entertainers in the top half of the table.

But United's attacking progress could be coming at a cost, as they have conceded more goals than anyone else in the top half of the Premier League.

In fact only the bottom five in the league have conceded more than their 16 goals.

United have let in at least two goals in five of their 10 league matches so far, accruing seven points.

Head coach Ruben Amorim - who has persevered with three central defenders in a 3-4-2-1 formation this season - says the number of goals his side are conceding is an issue.

Over the past three seasons, only three of the 20 clubs qualifying for European football through their league position, conceded 60 goals – 1.58 a game on average. United are currently on course to concede more than that.

So, can they reduce the number of goals they give away, while at the same time maintaining their present scoring output, which is joint fifth in the top-flight?

Amorim says they can but, speaking before Saturday's visit to Tottenham, he said the number of goals his side are conceding is an issue, as was the number of shots (17) Nottingham Forest had on their goal at the City Ground on 1 November.

"If you look at the league table, the team that is winning is not suffering goals," he said.

"It's more a team thing because everything is connected and sometimes when you attack better you defend better.

"But we cannot suffer the amount of goals we are suffering.

"We need to be more aggressive. In the last game we struggled a bit defending inside the box because outside the box we allowed the crosses without any pressure. We have worked this week on trying to improve on that.

"They also had 17 shots. We cannot allow that. It is something we need to change."

Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman was commentating on United's 2-2 draw with Forest for BBC Radio 5 Live.

United led in the game but then conceded twice in two minutes at the start of the second half, both as a result of crosses, before Amad Diallo equalised nine minutes from time.

He can see huge improvements in United's overall play compared to last season but feels Forest targeted Amad - a converted wide forward who started at right wing-back and was beaten in the air for the equaliser by Morgan Gibbs-White,.

Osman feels other sides will follow suit.

"If it was easy, everyone would do it," he said. "It would be a click of the fingers and a team would stop conceding goals while continuing to score.

"But ultimately, it's about getting the balance right. That's something you have to work on and get right in training. It might take weeks, it might take months, it might take a season to get the balance right because you don't want to stop your attacking players from going forward and getting into the spaces which create the opportunities to create the goals.

"Sometimes it's positionally about where players need to be on the pitch, sometimes it's attitude, sometimes it's recruitment.

"Ruben Amorin's a year in now and finally we're starting to see where he's going, what the aim is and the consistency that they can get because in the last month I think they've been quite impressive.

"From Amorim's point of view, he'll say, well, bar three minutes, we were quite impressive, just had a tough period we didn't get through and if we were mentally tougher in those moments or made better decisions, we wouldn't have conceded. And he would have a case, to be honest.

It is important to look at the tactical changes Amorim has made recently.

United have started using goalkeeper Senne Lammens' long distribution, building up short less often and minimising how often defenders lose the ball.

United are also able to remain more compact as the defensive and midfield lines move up the pitch collectively when the keeper launches it long. This reduces distances between players and helps United win more second balls while conceding fewer counter attacks.

This direct approach suits United's pacey attackers and has generally improved their defensive play given the better spacing between players, particularly against high-pressing sides like Liverpool and Brighton.

Against teams that sit deeper, United's direct approach becomes less effective. With less space in behind, United are tasked instead with breaking teams down, limiting their impressive counter-attacking threats.

Although United's attacking threat is reduced in these situations, they can look more defensively secure when their team is positioned high, penning opponents in.

Out of possession, Amorim has refined his pressing structure. His previous 5-2-3 press often left large gaps between midfield and attack. Although they still press in this way at times, recently Luke Shaw has been tasked with stepping into midfield when pressing, creating a 4-3-3 shape.

When defending deep, Amorim has moved from a 5-2-3 to a 5-4-1 shape which makes United harder to attack given the wider defensive coverage.

United's players hold their deep positions allowing opponents to have time and space on the ball in front of the defensive and midfield lines. Opponents have the time to switch play or cross from wide areas and United's box defending particularly at the back post has been questionable.

United may continue to play directly, keeping less of the ball. This will result in more goals scored.

It does however mean they would likely be required to defend their own box in their 5-4-1 shape for long periods.

In this scenario, if United are able to be more proactive in their 5-4-1 block, getting out to players before they cross it and improving their defending in the box, they could retain their attacking threat while conceding fewer goals.

Alternatively United can look to be more dominant on the ball as teams set up deeper against them. This would allow them to set up in a strong defensive shape behind the ball, as they attack, ready to pounce on opponents if the ball was lost.

This approach minimises their best players' attacking strengths however. Amorim's United would need to more reliably unlock stubborn defences for this approach to become more viable.