Ruben Amorim suffered his first league defeat since December 2023 at Arsenal – and his first Premier League defeat was a reality check for the task ahead of him at Manchester United.

The Portuguese, who was hired during an incredibly dominant period as Sporting coach in his home country, had warned ahead of the game that a storm was coming for his team, despite their 4-0 win over Everton at the weekend.

“The storm will come. We will have difficult moments and in a few games we will find out,” he had said in his pre-match press conference. That storm arrived at the Emirates Stadium in the second half when his side were undone by two Arsenal corners.

It was the first time since January 2014 that United had conceded two goals from corners in a Premier League game.

But defending set pieces wasn’t the only problem on display. We take on the key talking points of United’s defeat at Arsenal and what it means for Amorim…

Match fitness

Amorim said there was a “time limit” for certain players as they needed to get their injury problems under control and get them back to full fitness. Tyrell Malacia’s half-time withdrawal – after he had done well to limit Bukayo Saka in the first half in his first Premier League appearance since May 2023 – was evidence of that. As did the substitution of Harry Maguire on the hour mark. Amorim also referred to Mason Mount and Leny Yoro.

This was also evident in Amorim’s team selection, with the six changes he made from a Premier League side since the final day of the 2022/23 season, when there was an FA Cup final to prepare for. Game to next, Man Utd made the most.

The starting XI raised eyebrows as Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee each scored twice against Everton last time out, only to be dropped to the bench. But Amorim explained – as he did after the Ipswich draw – how he has to manage the training load by rotating his squad.

Attacking threat

These changes make it difficult to develop patterns of play and consistent performance, and the changed first three players have had little impact – much like the substitutes they replaced in the attacking areas.

Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho had no chance. Mount had the fewest touches of all the starters. Zirkzee despaired when a second-half shot went wide, ending the prospect of a United counterattack. However, Rashford’s most significant contribution was thwarting an attempted shot as he tried to clear the ball, and so the corner they scored gave Arsenal their second goal of the game.

Bruno Fernandes, in the deeper role in central midfield, set up a few shots but wasn’t the creative force he could be and United ultimately failed to really get going when they needed to in the second half.

Matthijs de Ligt’s header – beautifully parried by David Raya – was United’s only truly dangerous moment.

Their expected goals against Amorim are now 0.8, 1.07, 0.31 in games against Ipswich, Everton and Arsenal.

“We worked a lot on building it up,” said Amorim. “You see the structure and the idea. But in the last part, in the last third, you can see that we have to improve, be more aggressive and have more ideas.”

The positive…

Yoro’s first appearance for Man Utd after breaking his foot against Arsenal in pre-season was a clear positive for Amorim. The young centre-back, who played on the right side of the back three when he came on in the second half, reached out to get behind a dangerous Saka cross and made a good save as Leandro Trossard looked like he might score.

Amad Diallo seems to fit this system well too. He was a partial exception to United’s attacking woes and provided some exciting dribbling down the right – but he failed to ignite that spark and make a significant contribution to getting United back into the game.

What’s coming up in the Premier League?