Ruben Amorim Has to Drop Man United Man and Start £115k p/w Ace Going Forward

Manchester United’s summer addition Leny Yoro is seldom given the opportunity to start after his early injury struggles – but has proven his weight in gold with a last-ditch tackle in the 90th minute to keep the score against Liverpool at 2-2 on Sunday afternoon – but what does this mean for Matthijs de Ligt?

As Ruben Amorim and his entourage left Manchester for Merseyside, all three points were looking unlikely but goals from Lisandro Martinez and Amad, either side of Liverpool’s two-goal haul from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah, saw them return to Old Trafford with one extra point on the board.

The 39-year-old, who opted for a three-man defensive constellation of Harry Maguire, De Ligt and the aforementioned Martinez, outclassed his opposite number in Arne Slot and could count himself unlucky not to run away with a memorable victory.

Both Martinez, who sweetly struck his effort past Liverpool shot-stopper Alisson Becker and off the crossbar in the 52nd minute, and Maguire, whose fluffed chance to grab a 90th-minute winner left Amorim and his fellow teammates in disbelief, put in excellent performances.

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De Ligt, on the other hand, was replaced in the 83rd minute after struggling to match the pace and intensity of the long-term rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool – and even gave away the penalty, which was subsequently converted by Salah as he matched Thierry Henry in the Premier League’s all-time goal tally.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross ricocheted off Alexis Mac Allister’s head onto De Ligt’s arm, which was deemed by VAR to be in an unnatural position. The Dutchman also allowed his compatriot Gakpo to cut inside far too easily for his goal just before the hour mark and so it’s not unfair to say that both goals are linked to the 25-year-old.

Not only that, but Yoro, who turned 19 in November 2024, looked far more assured than De Ligt did, from an all-round defensive perspective, in his short but sweet stint on the Anfield turf, and that was perfectly encapsulated by his moment of brilliance in the affair’s dying embers of regulation time.

The footage of the young Frenchman, who is regarded as one of the best young footballers in world football, has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter) thanks to his blistering pace on hand to stop a dangerous counterattack which, in turn, alleviated a sense of nervousness among the travelling supporters.

Ensuring that Slot and his men didn’t walk away with all three points, Yoro ran from one box to the other, overtaking a sea of white and red shirts in the process, in order to prevent Darwin Nunez from getting a shot away. Albeit far from being risk-free, his impeccable timing allowed him to execute it to perfection.

With an all-crucial FA Cup tie with Arsenal on the horizon, exchanging De Ligt for Yoro, who earns £115,000-per-week, in the starting line-up makes logical sense – especially with the Gunners expected to use the energetic Gabriel Jesus in the centre-forward berth. It’s a risk that Amorim can’t afford to take.