Ruben Amorim admits Liverpool are better than Manchester United, but clings to the belief his team ‘can win any game’.
United make the dreaded trip to Anfield on Sunday having lost their last three Premier League games, slipping to 14th in the table. They sit just seven points above the relegation zone, with Amorim recently admitting the club may be in “one of their lowest moments”.
The last team they want to face at the moment is Liverpool – their age-old rivals who sit at the top of the table having won their last three league matches, scoring 14 goals in the process.
Add to that some recent defeats against the Merseysiders – including a 7-0 in 2023 – and it’s hard to find reasons for optimism for anyone who shares United’s beliefs.
Asked what made him believe United could pull off a major upset on Sunday, Amorim replied: “Because in football, in one match, anything can happen. If we talk about the season, almost every time the best team wins. At the moment they are better than us but we can win any match. We need to focus not on context but on performance. We need to improve the simple things.
The training ground is the best place to solve problems – Amorim
Amorim has struggled to implement his favored 3-4-3 formation which brought him success at previous club Sporting CP, but is hoping his time on the training pitch will see a more consistent performance this weekend -end.
“We had more time to train, two days in a row, I think that can help us. Of course, it’s a difficult moment because we are losing too many matches, we are going to face the best team this year. We want to improve performance compared to the last match [a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle on Monday night]. We cannot change the past, we want to change what is to come.
“You can see the lack of possession in the last game of the first half, everyone was so anxious, so nervous. The crosses, everything was so important, it’s hard to say one thing apart from possession, the way we controlled the tempo, understanding how we should play.
A heavy defeat would increase pressure on Amorim, who has only been in office since November.
The Portuguese is not worried about the potential fallout, however, as he bids to lead United to a first victory at Anfield in nine years.
“I just focus on performance,” he said. “I didn’t focus on losing or what might happen. We suffered some defeats, we prepared for this match to win and we know what we are going to face.
“My goal is to prepare the team not to have that difficult moment you saw in the first 15 minutes against Newcastle, I want to improve that.
“We know it’s going to be a difficult moment, a really different context for the two teams. They have had this solid foundation for many years but we are working this week to win the match, we will try to do that.
Maguire will remain red
Amorim has confirmed United will trigger the option to keep Harry Maguire for a further 12 months after admitting the team is short of leaders.
“I think it’s not something that belongs to our team, but to all teams,” he said. “If you want to be a top team you have to be leaders and we have that in the dressing room, but they have to step up.
“We also have a lot of young children and this time is really difficult. We can look at the table but you are still Manchester United.
