Ruben Amorim sets challenge for Man Utd players against Southampton | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim has warned that he will "learn more" about his Manchester United players during Thursday's visit from rock-bottom Southampton rather than the two spirited performances against Liverpool and Arsenal.

United had lost four successive matches before travelling to Anfield for their opening game of 2025. Despite fears over a hefty thrashing, Amorim's improved outfit battled out a 2-2 draw and may have defeated the Premier League leaders had Harry Maguire not spooned over from the top of the box with the last kick of the game.

One week later, United held another of their historic rivals to a draw on enemy territory. The Red Devils managed to keep the score at 1-1 despite playing with ten men for more than an hour at the Emirates Stadium and subsequently elbowed their way into the FA Cup fourth round after a triumphant penalty shootout.

Amorim hailed United's "different spirit" in that cup tie and challenged his players to maintain those levels of enthusiasm and fight for Thursday's fixture, which - theoretically, at least - the hosts would be expected to win.

"This next game will teach me more from my players than the last two," Amorim told the assembled media on Wednesday, "so I'm really focused in seeing what kind of game we’re going to play tomorrow so I will learn more tomorrow."

Ruben Amorim has not won any of his last six games as Man Utd manager / Nigel French/Allstar/GettyImages

By way of explanation, Amorim outlined: "Because there is no expectation for us in the last two games. No one believed that we could do a great performance or winning a game but now they are expecting us to win and play well so I will learn more this game."

Southampton sit at the foot of the Premier League table, boasting just six points from their first 20 league games of the campaign. Counterintuitively, the Saints' struggles could make it harder for United. "People expect us to win and that changes things," Amorim warned.

"When you have the pressure to win that is the pressure we want and sometimes it's harder to cope with that pressure because against Arsenal and Liverpool no one was expecting us to beat those teams but now it's different. We have to be prepared for that pressure, we need that pressure to improve as a team and we need to face the game in the right way."

United skipper Bruno Fernandes sent out the same message immediately after the euphoria of Sunday's cup win. "The big games against Liverpool [and] Arsenal, everyone steps up because it is a big game," the captain explained. "We have to give it back to the club. We need to do it every week, every game."