Gary Neville feels Ruben Amorim is caught between a rock and a hard place as he prepares his Manchester United team to take on Liverpool.
A 2-0 defeat at home to Newcastle United on Monday means Amorim has lost six of his first 11 games as United head coach, including the last four, with the club languishing in 14th place and just seven points clear of the bottom three .
The daunting prospect of a trip to Anfield to take on their arch-rivals – and Premier League leaders – is a far from ideal start to 2025.
United have struggled in this competition in recent times, with no wins at Anfield since 2016, while there have been some heavy defeats, including 4-0 and 7-0 thrashings in April 2022 and March 2023 respectively, with Neville acknowledging that this is his last match. the former side would have wanted given their form.
Neville told Sky Sports: “[Amorim’s] a young coach who has come over and needs time to settle in, but when results are this bad the pressure mounts and Anfield is a brutal place to go. It's the worst place at the best of times.
“The form they are in is out of this world. I have some fears about Sunday.
'I have no idea how [United] approach this match on Sunday. Manchester United have found this match very tough in recent years. The 7-0 [in March 2023]I was there and watched it to the bitter end, as did many Manchester United fans.”
However, Neville believes Amorim should stick to his preferred 3-4-3 system, even though there are doubts over whether United's players will suit the formation.
He said:[Amorim] cannot change because he is clearly committed to it. During training he works on this system every day and says: 'This is what we are going to do'.
“He has to stick to it, but all I want to say is that he has said he has to get results.
“If results continue as they are now, there may come a point where he has to change or do something different because it is clear that United cannot go any lower than they are now. They would be in danger of relegation.”
In the history of the Premier League, four teams that were 14th at the turn of the year have been relegated: Newcastle (2008-09), Burnley (2009-10), Norwich City (2013-14) and Leeds United (2022-23). .
However, the Opta supercomputer predicts that United will finish without danger. As it stands, they only have a 0.1% chance of falling.
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