Manchester United relegation game Maguire is afraid of injury, Amorim revealed the return date of the two injured players! Refuse to talk about Rashford

Manchester United host bottom-bottom Southampton on Thursday for a chance to claim their first Premier League win of 2025. However, boss Ruben Amorim may have to make two changes to his squad, one of which is certain as Diogu Dalow is suspended for this game due to Diogu Darlow's FA Cup win over Arsenal and will be limited to Tyrell Malacia at left-back. Maguire, meanwhile, appeared to have a minor injury after being substituted in extra-time for that game and missed two days of training last week due to flu.

Fans joked that this was a "relegation battle" for Manchester United, who were weak against Southampton, the only team in the Premier League who have not reached double figures, have won just one game so far, won one and scored only 12 goals, and United will host the stronger Brighton on Sunday. Therefore, if Maguire is to be rested, this is the best time to do so, with Lenny Yoro taking his place and forming a central defence-back with De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez.

Amorim has revealed left-back Luke Shaw is expected to return from injury in the next two weeks, while the 29-year-old England left-back has been sidelined for more than a month with a hamstring injury, although he could return to action in January. However, midfielder Mason Mount is yet to return to the timetable and has been rumoured to be sidelined until March after picking up an injury early in the game against Manchester City on 15 December.

"Luke Shaw is closer to a comeback than Mount." 'The latter will take a little more time, but one thing is for sure, we'll see Luke in the next two weeks and we'll see if he can get back on the pitch.' Amorim also stressed that Mason Mount could return this season, with the England midfielder, who joined from Chelsea for £60million in the summer window 2023, already the team's number one glass man, having played just 33 of his 83 appearances.

Although Southampton are considered to be the belly of the fish, Amorim warned his players that this game will see the true quality of Manchester United. "I think the next game will give me a better understanding of the players than the first two games, so I'm really focused on what kind of game I'm going to play tomorrow. We can learn more tomorrow because we didn't expect anything from the last two games. Nobody believed that United would perform well and now they expect us to win and play well, so I'll learn more about this game.'

Against Liverpool and Arsenal, Manchester United were mainly on the defensive, waiting for opportunities to counter-attack; Against Southampton, they will be the dominant side. 'It's different because the hardest thing for a team to train is the way you have the ball, whereas in the final third, when you're in control, it's a situation where a great team should do well. For a long time we were short of goals because we didn't get a lot of time up front, like against Nottingham Forest, so we need to improve on that.'

United have been winless in six games and Amorim said: "Of course we feel the pressure from the club, but at this moment I don't have any extra pressure because in the last few years Manchester United have not won the league and if you follow this club in the past and you don't win it this year, you have to win it next year. We need to bring that pressure back, and I don't have that pressure to win at the moment, I don't have that pressure for the future, we need to win the title and the competition in this moment."

Explaining why he wants more pressure on United, Amorim said: "When you have pressure to win, that's the pressure we want. Sometimes it's difficult, like against Arsenal and Liverpool, nobody expects us to beat these teams, but now we have to be ready for that pressure and as a team we need that pressure and to deal with the game in the right way.'

The 39-year-old Portuguese marshal admits he is apprehensive because it is part of his job. "Yes, I'm always worried because in these games we don't have consistency in performance and results, so the coach is always worried. It's my job to worry but we have to face Southampton like we did against Liverpool and Arsenal and that's the goal. Nothing more, nothing less, face the game."

According to British media rumors, the agent of 27-year-old Manchester United star Marcus Rashford had a showdown with the club on Wednesday to discuss where to stay and where to go in January. Amorim declined to discuss whether Rashford would return to the team and which club he would move to. "I just want to win tomorrow's race, my focus is to win tomorrow's race. I'm going to pick the players I think are most likely to win tomorrow's game, and I'm just focused on that." Amorim replied.