Manchester United are preparing for their must-win game this weekend as The Red Devils host Burley at Old Trafford in their third fixture of the 2025/26 Premier League season.
United are yet to grab a win this season, despite having a strong pre-season tour being undefeated in the Premier League Summer Series over in America.
However, since returning, Ruben Amorim’s men have lost 1-0 to Arsenal at home, drew 1-1 with Fulham at Craven Cottage and embarrassingly lost to Grimsby Town on penalties to be knocked out of the Carabao Cup.
Now, heading into their match-up with newly promoted Burnley, we take a look at some changes that need to be made.
1. Start Matthijs de Ligt AND Harry Maguire
For both of the Premier League openers, Ruben Amorim has interestingly selected Luke Shaw, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro as his back three, leaving Harry Maguire on the bench despite his resurgence under the Portuguese manager.
The Carabao Cup game against Grimsby marked Maguire’s first start of the season, with the centre-back grabbing the final goal to send the game to penalties.
Since de Ligt arrived at Old Trafford, the pairing of de Ligt and Maguire has been the most successful, winning eight and drawing four of the 21 games they’ve played together, with only Lisandro Martinez being a better partner for both, winning 24 of 39 games with Maguire and 14 of 25 games with de Ligt.
However, with Martinez out injured, still yet to return, Amorim needs to field his next strongest pairing with Maguire and de Ligt.
2. Trust in the new signings – start the new attacking trio
Manchester United have spent just over £200 million on the signing of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, assembling a completely new attacking line.
Despite this major figure for just three players, the trio have not lined-up together once as of yet.
United’s opening Premier League game against Arsenal saw Mason Mount line-up ahead of Cunha and Mbeumo before Cunha then went ahead of Mount and Mbeumo against Fulham.
Even against Grimsby the trio didn’t start, with Sesko lining up ahead of Cunha and Amad Diallo, only for Mbeumo to come off the bench and grab his first United goal.
As such, with a make or break game, Amorim needs to get his three new signings on the field to show why they were brought in and justify their price-tags, especially with Sesko being the club’s only real out-and-out striker.
3. Utilise Kobbie Mainoo off the bench
Kobbie Mainoo is an extremely talented midfielder at only 20-years-old, having been nominated for the Golden Boy award in 2024 and getting a call up as a regular starter for England at Euro 2024.
However, since returning from injury in December, he’s fallen down the pecking order under Amorim, even now asking for a loan move to get more game-time having been an unused substitute in the opening two Premier League games.
Whilst United have rejected his request, Amorim needs to utilise him properly, and if he won’t be starting ahead of Bruno Fernandes, understandable given Fernandes’ key role to the squad, Mainoo needs to be brought in off the bench.
Amorim has been reportedly holding off using him over concerns around his pace and intensity, however were he to be given the opportunity to act as a super-sub, especially in the lead up to the World Cup next year, he could grab the opportunity and impress.
4. Bring back Tom Heaton
Manchester United’s goalkeepers are absolutely woeful, and that’s being generous.
First-choice keeper Andre Onana has been struggling for the last two years, seeing United fall further and further away from a spot for European football due to his costly mistakes, yet for some reason Amorim keeps backing him.
Whilst Altay Bayindir has performed better than Onana so far this season and in the pre-season, he still doesn’t inspire confidence to step into the fray, with the United players now being reported as having concerns over both shot-stoppers.
Amorim’s only other real option is veteran keeper Tom Heaton, who despite his seven seasons with the club, having come through the academy and then returned in recent years, has never played a Premier League game for The Red Devils.
That doesn’t mean that he has no experience in the competition though, having played 116 Premier League matches across spells with, ironically, Burnley and Aston Villa, grabbing 29 clean sheets.
He also featured in goal in United’s biggest pre-season win when they beat Bournemouth 4-1, showing he can still perform against Premier League sides.
As such, Heaton could well be the best option for between the sticks until replacements for Onana and Bayindir are found.
Conclusion
Unfortunately it does look as though a lot of changes need to be made for Manchester United to even have a chance of winning against Burnley, however, with Ruben Amorim’s stubbornness around change, they seem unlikely to be made.
The Portuguese manager routinely backs Andre Onana despite disastrous performances, and is being tentative about unleashing new signings, so it’s hard to imagine that these changes will actually be made as the side step out on the pitch at Old Trafford this weekend.
