Ruben Amorim recently celebrated a significant achievement in his time as manager of Manchester United. The team’s 2-1 triumph over Liverpool marked his first instance of securing back-to-back Premier League victories since he took charge nearly a year ago, making him the first United manager to win at Anfield since 2016.
However, there’s a compelling argument that the upcoming match against Brighton at Old Trafford on Saturday holds even greater significance. Amid various challenges since his appointment in November 2024, United has maintained a decent record against the so-called Big Six. In 11 Premier League encounters with teams like Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur, he’s achieved three wins, three draws, and five losses. The victory over Liverpool reinforced Amorim’s assertion that United “can win any game in the Premier League,” made after their narrow loss to Arsenal at the season’s start.
Amorim’s performance against newly promoted teams is also commendable—with five victories and one draw from six matches against Ipswich Town, Southampton, Leicester City last season, as well as Burnley and Sunderland this season. Initially, it seemed his team struggled only against top-tier clubs, but when facing other teams—particularly the remaining 11 (Brighton, Bournemouth, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Everton, Crystal Palace, Brentford, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, and Wolves), his record drops to a disappointing three wins, three draws, and 12 losses across 18 games.
The main challenge for United lies not in matches against Liverpool or Manchester City, or even against newly promoted clubs, but rather in encounters with other teams.
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Against the Big Six, Amorim boasts a win percentage of 27.7% and averages 1.09 points per game (PPG). In contrast, he achieves an impressive 83.3% win rate and 2.67 PPG against newly promoted teams. However, when taking on all other opponents, his win percentage plummets to just 16.67%, averaging a mere 0.67 points earned per game.
The victory against Liverpool was significant, but a win over Brighton could provide a clearer measure of United’s progress.
For Amorim, the challenge in matches against teams like Brighton is heightened by the expectations placed on them to win. He noted that the pressure to perform differently against lower-ranked teams can be a double-edged sword. This was highlighted before the match against Liverpool, where he reflected on why his team tends to perform better against stronger opponents.
“Perhaps it’s the expectations,” he suggested. “When you have to win, it’s much tougher to play that way. In big clubs, you’re expected to win every match, especially those where fans anticipate a specific outcome. We sometimes struggle with that. When it seems like Manchester United should win a game, it may actually ease the players’ performance, and we need to address that.”
In many ways, the match against Liverpool played into this narrative. Despite facing a Liverpool side on a three-match losing streak, they were still deemed favorites. Conversely, against Brighton, United will clearly be expected to claim victory.
This expectation may have influenced Amorim’s attempt to frame the media narrative following the Liverpool win. “I want you all [the media] to keep saying what you are saying,” he remarked. “Please don’t change that. It’s beneficial for me.”
The one aspect that Amorim can control is his team’s performance—yet this remains a work in progress. It’s something he anticipated even before taking over at Manchester. After Sporting CP’s impressive 4-1 victory over Manchester City, he cautioned United fans against getting too excited. Sporting managed to win with just 27.3% possession and nine shots, while City dominated with 72.7% possession and 20 attempts.
When asked if he understood the level of enthusiasm that result inspired among fans, Amorim downplayed it. “It means little,” he stated. “Manchester United simply can’t play so defensively.”
This tactical challenge has been a recurring theme during his tenure at Old Trafford. Following a narrow 3-2 win against Ipswich in February, which saw his team playing with ten men due to a first-half red card, he acknowledged that they tended to perform better when reacting to pressure.
“I think it’s evident, and it presents difficulties for me,” he admitted. “With defenders like Harry Maguire and [Matthijs] de Ligt, they shine when defending in the box, but when covering vast spaces, the dynamics change. It’s exceptionally challenging for me to adopt the style we used in the second half. Yet, I sense that sometimes the players are more comfortable defending in a low block.”
Unlike the match against Liverpool, where expectations were less pronounced, Amorim found himself adopting a style that dismayed Slot. “It’s always tricky to face a team playing a low block and favoring long balls,” Slot remarked after his team had the majority of possession and shots.
The encounter with Brighton poses a different challenge than the one faced against Liverpool. Fabian Hurzeler’s team previously claimed a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford in January, managing less than 50% possession and only three shots on target. A week later, United heads to Nottingham Forest, where they suffered a 1-0 defeat in April despite having 62.8% possession and 23 shots, while Forest only created two shots, capitalizing on a counterattack by Anthony Elanga.
In summary, the matches against Brighton and Forest present Amorim with a different set of challenges than those encountered at Anfield—challenges he is still figuring out how to navigate effectively. Amorim described the victory against Liverpool as “the biggest win of my tenure at Manchester United,” and it’s clear why; it was a notable achievement against a fierce rival.
Yet, the true indicator of his team’s progress will unfold this weekend. Amorim recognized this in the press room at Anfield on Sunday. “It has been a good day,” he stated. “Now we must focus on Brighton. We’ll see what happens after that.”
A match against Brighton at Old Trafford may lack the drama of a fixture at Liverpool, but for Amorim, it holds even greater significance.