Ruben Amorim urges Man Utd to prove they are getting better with win at Anfield

Ruben Amorim has challenged his Manchester United players to show they are heading in the right direction in Sunday’s clash with Liverpool.

The Red Devils travel to Anfield bidding to close to within two points of their opponents and with a slightly more positive feeling around the club following the victory over Sunderland before the international break.

United have not won at the home of their great rivals for nearly a decade, but they have taken a point from their last two visits, including January’s 2-2 draw.

“We played well,” said Amorim, who is yet to oversee back-to-back wins in the league. “I was really upset at the end of the game because we proved that day that we can compete against any opponent.

“I know that it’s special for our club, I know they are fighting all the time for the number of titles, I know what it means to the fans. But it’s one game that we need to prove again that we are playing better.

“I think we are playing better. We need to do better in both boxes. It’s one more game that we need to win.”

Liverpool equalled United’s tally of 20 top-flight titles last season, while Amorim’s side slumped to a 15th-placed finish.

The Portuguese acknowledged the current power imbalance but is keen to focus on more short-term goals.

“Sometimes things change really fast but, if you see the history of both clubs, you can feel that sometimes you have one club that is winning, winning, winning and the other club is having a bad moment,” he said.

“That happened with Liverpool when Manchester United was winning everything. And that happened with Manchester United when Liverpool was winning everything.

“So we just have to acknowledge that, to be really honest with the fans, but we can win any game. So, if we think about just winning the next game, that is the most important thing, we can win the next game.

“If we are going to fight to be at the same level of Liverpool in the future, that is the idea. I don’t know how long it is going to take.”

United’s draw against Liverpool last season ended a run of four straight defeats and the caveat to the Red Devils’ poor form under Amorim is that they have had some notable results against the top teams, including taking four points off Manchester City in 2024/25.

Asked why they have performed better in those matches, the 40-year-old said: “Maybe the expectations. When you have to win, it’s so much harder to play like that.

“We have some difficulties sometimes to deal with that – when people expect Manchester United not to win that game, maybe it’s easier for the players to perform.

“We need to change that, but to change that we need to have confidence to win more games, to have more points, to feel more free to play the game.”