Ruben Amorim explains why he dropped Rasmus Højlund for Man Utd vs Arsenal

Rasmus Højlund has explained why he dropped Rasmus Højlund from the Manchester United lineup to face Arsenal on the weekend.

Manchester United return to Premier League action on Sunday evening as they host Arsenal at Old Trafford.

Ruben Amorim’s side recently drew 1-1 with Real Sociedad in their Europa League last-16 first leg, with the return fixture set for this coming Thursday.

United previously edged past Arsenal on penalties in the FA Cup but lost 2-0 at the Emirates in the reverse league fixture.

Despite having little left to play for in the league this term, Amorim’s men must focus on building consistency as the season nears its end.

Amorim explains Højlund decision vs Arsenal

The United boss has decided to drop Rasmus Højlund from his starting XI this weekend amid the Danish forward’s poor form which has seen him play 19 games without scoring.

Højlund had started all six of United’s most recent games but has been taken out of the firing line for this clash.

Instead, Joshua Zirkzee moves back up front with Christian Eriksen coming into the no.10 role alongside Alejandro Garnacho.

Amorim played down the reasoning for Højlund being on the bench, claiming that the changes made are down to rotation and keeping the team “fresh” going forward.

“We are facing a very good team and we want to be competitive and fight for the win,” began Amorim when asked about the team changes.

“It’s the rotation of the team we need a fresh team to face all the games. We try to use different players in different games.”

United’s terrifying lack of options

The decision to drop Højlund was one that Amorim needed to make but the lack of alternative options within the squad is terrifying.

Eriksen is not good enough to start games for the club anymore but it was either him or 17-year-old Chido Obi who could come into the lineup.

It was a similar decision in defence for Amorim, who opted to start Victor Lindelöf over Ayden Heaven in the back three after the injury to Harry Maguire.

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Amorim is currently in a situation where he has to choose between extremely inexperienced youth or older players who have already proven to not be good enough. It is quite unbelievable.

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