One Manchester United star may have earned himself a starting spot against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend after an impressive cameo against Nottingham Forest.
Manchester United have struggled for form away from home since Rúben Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag in November 2024. While the Red Devils beat Liverpool at Anfield just a few weeks ago, Amorim won’t be too disappointed with just one point from the City Ground on Saturday afternoon.
Casemiro opened the scoring against Nottingham Forest with a brilliant header from a corner. But the set-piece was wrongly awarded by the referee, meaning Forest have conceded from two wrongful set-pieces in two weeks.
Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Savona gave Forest the lead just after halftime. United were caught off guard by the quick start to the second half, but they fought back to level the game through Amad towards the end of the match.
Amorim made just two substitutes against Sean Dyche’s side, choosing to leave Mason Mount and Joshua Zirkzee on the bench. Patrick Dorgu replaced Diogo Dalot after another poor performance, while Noussair Mazraoui was brought on for Leny Yoro after returning from injury.
Amorim must consider Mazraoui start against Spurs
Mazraoui’s second season at Old Trafford has been heavily disrupted by injury, but the Moroccan was crucial to Amorim during his first year, despite not having a natural spot in the side.
The former Bayern Munich defender made 57 appearances for United last season, often featuring on the right side of Amorim’s back three, alongside Matthijs de Ligt.
With Tottenham Hotspur next weekend, Amorim should consider returning Mazraoui to the starting lineup, meaning Yoro would drop to the bench.
Against Forest, Mazraoui kept a 91% pass accuracy and made five passes into the final third, as per FotMob. While he didn’t directly impact Amad’s goal, Mazraoui’s introduction would’ve given the Ivorian more confidence to push forward and affect the final third.
Yoro is a brilliant prospect, but is still learning the wide-centre-back role, while Mazraoui seems to have it down to a tee. The Moroccan should start against Spurs on the right side of the defence.
Amorim could revert to Chelsea system
Against Chelsea, Amorim deployed a 4-4-2 structure without the ball that made United much harder to break down than in previous weeks. While Yoro played there against Enzo Maresca’s side, Mazraoui would be a more natural option on the right of the back three, as he would effectively be playing right-back out of possession.
If Amorim is to revert to the 4-4-2, Mason Mount must start on the left side of the frontline, with either Matheus Cunha or Benjamin Šeško dropping to the bench.
Amorim may choose to drop Šeško after an “awkward” performance against Nottingham Forest, according to Gary Neville, to take him out of the spotlight.
United must ensure that they don’t make the same mistakes with Šeško that they made with Rasmus Hojlund. He shouldn’t be starting every game at his young age.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.