“Try to use it”: United attacker reveals Amorim has the perfect plan to put Villa to the sword

Manchester United could be without as many as six key first-team stars when they take on Aston Villa away from home on Sunday. Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire remain sidelined, while Casemiro is set to serve a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth individual caution against Bournemouth. The biggest miss will be in attack, with Amad and Bryan Mbeumo both departing for AFCON, along with Noussair Mazraoui. The Ivorian and Cameroonian have dovetailed to devastating effect, registering 11 goal involvements between them. AFCON absentees Thankfully, Ruben Amorim will be able to welcome back Benjamin Sesko from the start after his cameo against the Cherries last week. The Slovenian was absent for a month owing to a knee injury, and his return is perfectly timed as far as Amorim is concerned. The United No.30 has two goals and one assist, and he revealed to MUTV his delight at returning to action. “I was really happy when I came back, that I could be back with the team. I can enjoy, have a great time and try and get better every day. Benjamin Sesko back just in time “It’s obviously a dream to do every single training out there and score some goals.” In recent weeks, United have shown glimpses of their enormous potential in attack, scoring four goals in back-to-back games. Despite this, it was evident from the performance that the team could have scored a lot more if they had taken all their chances. However, the biggest conundrum for the head coach to solve is at the back, with the 20-time English league champions boasting of the worst defensive record among the top-12 sides in the division. Plan vs Villa “We know this is a great team, we are preparing with full power that we can use. Try to use it in certain situations, on the weak spots [of Aston Villa]. “I think the guys are ready, we are looking forward to Sunday, trying to give our best and win the game. “[The message from Ruben has been] obviously to try and finish attacks because we had plenty of shots [against Bournemouth], try to be more clinical and in the defence just to have more focus. “As he says always, when we have a focus, it’s hard to beat us. We showed [that] many times, that’s the main focus for this weekend, to try and protect the net as long as possible.” It will be interesting to see how Amorim sets his team up defensively, and the personnel he picks to offset the departure of his AFCON-bound stars. Feature image Gareth Copley via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25