Ruben Amorim and his Manchester United team now have full focus on their upcoming Europa League semi-final clash against Athletic Bilbao.
Manchester United drew against Bournemouth on the weekend and their Premier League campaign continues to look extremely dim.
However, it is no secret that the Europa League is the club’s main focus right now, with them being three games away from securing another trophy and Champions League qualification for next season.
United are still unbeaten in European competition this term – the only club to still have that tag – and have won against Real Sociedad and Lyon in the knockout stages leading up to the semi-final.
Athletic Bilbao are the next opponent and certainly the hardest. They currently sit fourth in La Liga and have many dangerous players United should be worried about.
The first-leg of the tie will be played in Spain this coming week before Old Trafford hosts yet another European second-leg the following Thursday.
Amorim must start Amass vs Bilbao
United will be without Diogo Dalot in these fixtures after he suffered an injury last week and that leaves the personnel on the flanks up for discussion.
Amorim opted to use Noussair Mazraoui and Patrick Dorgu as the wingbacks against Bournemouth but it remains extremely clear that Mazraoui is better suited to playing in the back three.
Dorgu is also experiencing issues on the left flank recently, with his best performance since the international break coming on the right side of the pitch.
Amorim should be encouraged to start Harry Amass on the left in this upcoming game against Bilbao, while moving Dorgu over to the opposite flank.
Amass has impressed in all of his recent cameos and while this is a crucial Europa League game, Amorim has already benefited from trusting the youth in that competition.
Heaven experiment should give Amorim confidence with Amass start
It wasn’t too long ago that Amorim decided to trust Ayden Heaven to start ahead of Victor Lindelöf in the second-leg of United’s clash with Real Sociedad in the round-of-16.
Heaven had not started a professional game beforehand and was one of United’s best players in a 4-1 victory. Going for youth over experience paid off for Amorim.
That should give Amorim the confidence to include the “exciting” Amass in his team on Thursday night, with the teenager showing all of the right signs in his appearances so far.
He was United’s best player in his only start against Wolves and has shown that he has the link-up and crossing ability to help in an attacking sense.
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Heaven’s inclusion against Sociedad was partly injury-related, but he also was chosen ahead of a senior player. It could end up being a similar story for Amass.
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