- Ruben Amorim has lost five of his first 10 games since taking charge of United
- Yesterday’s 2-0 defeat at Wolves leaves the Red Devils languishing in 14th place
- LISTEN NOW: It all starts! Are Tottenham managers treated differently to other managers?
Opta’s supercomputer has predicted a devastating final position for Manchester United in the Premier League after Ruben Amorim’s horror start.
United’s dismal 2-0 defeat to struggling Wolves on Boxing Day left them 14th in the top-flight table and caused Amorim’s fifth defeat in his first 10 games in charge.
Matheus Cunha scored straight from a corner, the second time the Red Devils have conceded an ‘Olimpico’ in the space of a week, before Hwang Hee-chan tapped home in injury time to pile the misery on United’s beleaguered head coach.
After the match, Amorim insisted his side had to go into survival mode in the hope of achieving results, with the relegation zone just seven points below.
It is therefore no surprise that Opta have tipped them to finish in the bottom half.
The supercomputer, which estimates the probability of teams finishing in each position by simulating their remaining matches thousands of times, believes a lowly twelfth place is United’s most likely destination with a 13.7 percent chance.
Opta’s supercomputer has tipped Manchester United to finish in the bottom half
United slumped to a dismal 2-0 defeat at Wolves on Boxing Day and are now 14th
Matheus Cunha scored directly from a corner and piled the misery on Ruben Amorim
Damn enough, their second most credible spot is 13th at 13.3 percent, a shade above 13.1 percent, putting them in 11th place.
The software assumes that the chance of United finishing in 10th place – and in the top half – is only 11.2 percent, while the chance of finishing ninth is only 9.6 percent.
Based on current predictions, Opta has stated that there is a 0.5 percent chance of United finishing fourth, a near-impossible feat that would secure them Champions League qualification for next season against all odds.
The model does not believe United will be relegated, with a 0.1 percent chance of 18th and a zero percent chance of 19th and 20th.
Asked yesterday whether United should now worry about teams below them, Amorim said: ‘Yes. Right now we just have to survive and win sometimes.”
He also added that United should forget about qualifying for European football.
“No, no, no, no,” he replied when asked if they could think of Europe. ‘We have to work on many things at our club, both on and off the field.’
Amorim emphasized that he has ‘no idea’ how long it will take for his team to improve.
United have lost five of Amorim’s first 10 games since taking charge at Old Trafford
Bruno Fernandes was sacked at Molineux and rejected by his seething manager
‘I have no idea. No idea,” Amorim said.
‘Instead of me trying to understand how much time it will take, it’s just day by day about improving, trying to watch videos and using every minute of training and trying to win some points because it’s very important at the moment .
‘The idea takes time. This will be a difficult moment. We are far from the end of this moment and that is all. We have to keep going and focus on the next game.”
Amorim has just three days to rally his troops ahead of a quick turnaround, with the Red Devils hosting Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Monday evening.