“Definitely…” – Liverpool boss Arne Slot makes surprising Manchester United prediction

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has repeated his opinion on rivals Manchester United ahead of their Premier League clash this weekend.

Manchester United open 2025 with a daunting challenge as they take on arch-rivals and Premier League leaders Liverpool.

Liverpool, under new manager Arne Slot, are in excellent form, dominating the league with just one defeat in all competitions this season.

In contrast, United are struggling in 14th place, a mere seven points above the relegation zone, as they grapple with the transition to Ruben Amorim’s system.

Adapting to Amorim’s ideas has proven tougher than expected, with the team losing five of their last six Premier League matches, including disappointing home defeats to Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, and Newcastle United.

For United, this game is an opportunity to play without pressure. A surprise victory could significantly lift the spirits at Old Trafford.

Slot defends United amid relegation talk

Arne Slot was asked by reporters about Liverpool’s upcoming opponents’ difficulties during his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.

He claimed that United are ‘much, much, much better’ than the Premier League table currently shows, and predicts for his team’s rivals to ‘definitely’ rise up the table amidst relegation talk.

“For me, I said it before the first fixture and I can say it one more time, they have much better players, in my opinion, than maybe the league table shows at the moment,” he told reporters.

“It’s maybe going to take a while for Ruben Amorim to bring this out of the players, I don’t know, but they will definitely go up and they are much, much, much better than the league shows at the moment.”

United fans need to be reminded that football changes quickly

It is certainly fun for rivals and media outlets to speak about the prospect of relegation for United, who are just seven points away from the drop as things stand.

Interestingly, those same people had already completely written off United’s chances of top four a few weeks ago when the points difference was less than five.

United fans who may be concerned should be reminded that football changes extremely quickly, and while it would perhaps be naive of anyone to write off anything, things could also improve soon.

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United’s players are definitely not good enough to bring them back to the top but they’re also not as bad as they’re currently showing. The most likely outcome is that a middle ground is found and United move into mid-table.

The more concerning thing to worry about will be how United secure qualification for European football next season, as that will hugely impact their summer transfer window.

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