Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has revealed why he named Benjamin Sesco on the bench for the Red Devils’ trip to Liverpool on Sunday. Sesco has been left out of the starting XI for the fourth time this season, with United aiming for their fourth Premier League win of the season.
United splashed out an initial fee of just over £66m to sign Sesco from RB Leipzig in the summer, with the deal also including a further £7.5m in add-ons. The Slovenian international was on the bench for the opening three games of this season, and started the next four. He scored his first goal for United against Brentford at the end of September, and also scored in United’s win over Sunderland before the international break. However, when Amorim announced the starting XI for the trip to Anfield, Matheus Cunha was recalled instead and Sesco was not named.
Amorim was asked about his team selection by Sky Sports ahead of the match on Merseyside. The Portuguese manager then explained the selection of Cunha and Harry Maguire, who was absent from the last game against Sunderland.
“Cunha is one of the players who has the characteristics to help the team move forward. (Virgil) van Dijk and (Ibrahima) Konate like to duel in the air, so we will try to give them something different.”
“We try to choose the best players to win the match, considering their characteristics and the development of the match. They (Cunha and Casemiro) are rested and ready to play,” he added.
Meanwhile, Amorim confirmed before the match that Bruno Fernandes would continue to take penalties despite the midfielder missing the last two spot-kicks.
“He took 70 penalties and missed nine of them, including my two. It’s really frustrating,” the manager revealed.
“But he’s really confident. He’s been training with penalties in mind and trying to understand that people are watching him take penalties. He’ll be ready.”
United had a difficult start to the season, failing to win their opening two Premier League games, and were eliminated in the Carabao Cup by League Two club Grimsby in August.
Since then, the Red Devils have won against Burnley, Chelsea and Sunderland, but also lost to Manchester City and Brentford.
And Amorim, who joined the club last November, is under huge pressure at Old Trafford after helping the team finish 15th in the Premier League last season.
