Ruben Amorim has warned that he will “learn more” about his Manchester United players during Thursday’s match against bottom-placed Southampton than he did in the previous two matches against Liverpool and Arsenal.
Before heading into their first game of 2025 at Anfield, United had suffered four consecutive defeats. However, despite concerns over a heavy loss, Amorim’s revitalized squad fought to a 2-2 draw, and they could have claimed all three points had Harry Maguire not missed a crucial chance in the dying moments of the game.
A week later, United earned another draw away at Arsenal, holding the Gunners to a 1-1 scoreline despite being a man down for over an hour. The Red Devils then went on to win a penalty shootout, advancing to the FA Cup fourth round. Amorim praised the “different spirit” displayed in that cup match and challenged his players to maintain that level of fight and enthusiasm for Thursday’s game, a match in which United would be expected to win.
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“This next game will teach me more about my players than the last two,” Amorim told reporters on Wednesday. “I’m focused on seeing how we perform tomorrow because I’ll learn more from this game.”
Amorim explained further, saying, “In the last two games, there were no expectations. No one believed we could perform well or win, but now the expectation is for us to win and play well. So I’ll learn more in this match.”
Southampton, sitting at the bottom of the Premier League with just six points from 20 games, might seem like an easier opponent, but Amorim cautioned that the pressure to win could make things more difficult. “People expect us to win, and that changes things,” he warned.
“When you’re expected to win, that’s a kind of pressure we need, but it can be harder to deal with. Against Arsenal and Liverpool, no one expected us to beat those teams, but now it’s different. We have to be prepared for that pressure—it’s something we need to embrace to improve as a team and approach the game the right way.”
United captain Bruno Fernandes echoed the same sentiment after Sunday’s cup win, stating, “In the big games against Liverpool and Arsenal, everyone steps up because they are big games. We have to give back to the club.”
