Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim warns of ongoing ‘rollercoaster’ as club attempt at stormy rebuild continues.
Who: Manchester United vs Brighton
What: English Premier League
Where: Old Trafford, Manchester, United Kingdom
When: 2pm (16:00 GMT) on Sunday
Follow Al Jazeera’s live build-up followed by our text and photo stream of the match.
Ruben Amorim has warned that Manchester United’s season will continue to be a “rollercoaster” ride as players learn to adapt to his system following a dramatic 3-1 win against Southampton.
Premier League basement club Southampton were on the brink of a shock win at Old Trafford on Thursday before Amad Diallo scored a stunning 12-minute hat-trick to turn the game on its head.
It followed a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Liverpool and a morale-boosting FA Cup win against Arsenal.
Amorim, who took over from the sacked Erik ten Hag in November, had previously warned that a “storm will come” ahead of a run of six defeats in eight games.
Aged 22 years and 189 days, Amad has become Man Utd’s youngest ever hat-trick scorer at Old Trafford in the Premier League ✨ pic.twitter.com/Bmd1a6CXfd
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 16, 2025
The 39-year-old Portuguese boss forecast more turbulence following the subpar display against the struggling Saints. Despite the win, United, who host Brighton on Sunday, are still languishing in 12th place in the Premier League table.
“I think it’s going to be hard until the end of the season,” Amorim said. “It’s going to be a little bit that rollercoaster. Then it depends on the time you have to train. We are still in the [FA] Cup and we have UEFA games for the Europa League.
“Then it’s important also to focus on next Thursday [when Scottish giants Rangers visit Old Trafford] to win and to try to be in that top eight.”
He added: “We had seven trainings together in 14, 15 games. It’s really hard, but we have to continue and try to win it. Sometimes playing good, sometimes playing bad.”
The man of the moment 🏆⚽️
🫶 @Amaddiallo_19 #MUFC || #MUNSOU pic.twitter.com/5YTq79IL6U
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 16, 2025
Amorim accepted his side did not play well against Southampton and indicated several players were tired, including Manuel Ugarte, whose own goal late in the first half gave the visitors the lead.
“You [the media] are focused on what I said about Ugarte,” he said. “Ugarte was tired because he did a great job against Liverpool.
“If you look at the game against Arsenal, maybe Ugarte and Bruno [Fernandes] were the best players against Liverpool.
“They didn’t play against Newcastle. I think that happens with all players in the Premier League.”
Manchester United team news
Diogo Dalot returns from a one-match ban, but Mason Mount and Luke Shaw remain absent through injury.
The midfield may give Amorim pause for thought with Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte both substituted against Southampton due to tiredness.
Brighton team news
Former Manchester City midfielder James Milner misses out through injury. Ferdi Kadioglu is also sidelined with a knock, but Georginio Rutter may return to the starting 11 having made a goal-scoring appearance as a sub at Ipswich.
Head-to-head
Brighton will become only the second side to win three consecutive away matches in the Premier League against Manchester United if they claim all three points on Sunday.
The other side to do so are Manchester City, who have achieved the feat twice.
It’s been a positive run overall for the Seagulls, who have won five of their last six matches against the Red Devils.