Ruben Amorim admits Liverpool are better than Manchester United but believes his side “can win any game”.
United make the daunting trip to Anfield on Sunday having lost their last three Premier League games, slipping to 14th in the table in the process. They sit just seven points above the relegation zone with Amorim recently admitting the club are perhaps at “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 games scoring 14 goals in the process.
Throw in some dangerous recent defeats by the Merseysiders – including 7-0 in 2023 – and it’s hard to find cause for optimism for anyone of United’s conviction.
Asked what gave him the belief that United could pull off a big surprise on Sunday, Amorim said: “Because in football, in one game anything can happen. If you talk about the season, then almost every time the best team wins. Right now they are better than us but we can win any game. We need to focus not on context but on performance. We need to improve the simple things.”
Training ground the best place to solve problems – Amorim
Amorim has struggled to implement the preferred 3-4-3 formation that brought him success at previous club Sporting CP, but he hopes time on the training ground will see a more consistent performance at the weekend.
“We had more time to train, two days in a row, I think that can help us. Of course, it is a difficult time because we are losing too many matches, we will face the best team this year. We want to improve on the performance from the last game (2-0 defeat to Newcastle on Monday night). We cannot change the past, we want to change what is coming.
“You can see the lack of possession in the last game in 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 have to play.”
A heavy defeat will increase the pressure on Amorim despite only being in the job since November.
However, the Portuguese is undeterred by a potential drop-off as he bids to lead United to a first victory at Anfield in nine years.
“I’m just focused on performance,” he said. “I haven’t focused on losing or what could happen. We’ve had some losses, we’ve prepared this game to win and we know what we’re up against.
“My focus is to prepare the team so that they don’t have that difficult moment that you saw in the first 15 minutes against Newcastle, I want to improve that.
“We know it will be a difficult time, really different context for both teams. They’ve had that strong base for many years, but we’re working this week to win the game, we’re going to try to do that.”
Maguire to stay Red
Amorim has confirmed that United will activate the option to keep Harry Maguire for another 12 months after admitting the club were lacking leaders.
“I think it’s not one thing about our team, it’s all teams,” he said. “If you want to be a top, 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 new kids and this time is very difficult. We can look at the scoreboard but you are still Manchester United.”
