Manchester United start the post-Ruben Amorim era with a trip to struggling Burnley.
Amorim was given his marching orders on Monday following the breakdown of his relationship with the club’s hierarchy and 14 months of underwhelming performances. While things have improved sightly this season, the 40-year-old can have few complaints with a win rate of just 38.1% across all competitions.
Ex-United midfielder Darren Fletcher, currently in charge of the U18s, will be on the touchline at Turf Moor, with the Red Devils expected to appoint an interim boss before naming a permanent successor to Amorim.
United have won just one of their past five fixtures and are currently sixth in the Premier League, albeit just three points behind fourth-place Liverpool. Regardless of their managerial situation, they will be expecting victory away at the division’s second-worst club—Burnley are winless in their last 11 and have lost nine of those matches.
Here is Sports Illustrated’s guide to the clash.
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Burnley vs. Man Utd Head-to-Head Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (All Competitions)
|
Burnley |
Man Utd |
|---|---|
|
Brighton 2–0 Burnley – 03/01/26 |
Leeds 1–1 Man Utd – 04/01/26 |
|
Burnley 1–3 Newcastle – 30/12/25 |
Man Utd 1–1 Wolves – 30/12/25 |
|
Burnley 0–0 Everton – 27/12/25 |
Man Utd 1–0 Newcastle – 26/12/25 |
|
Bournemouth 1–1 Burnley – 20/12/25 |
Aston Villa 2–1 Man Utd – 21/12/25 |
|
Burnley 2–3 Fulham – 13/12/25 |
Man Utd 4–4 Bournemouth – 15/12/25 |
|
Country |
TV Channel/Live Stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD, Sky GO, Sky GO Extra |
|
United States |
USA Network |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network Canada, DAZN |
|
Mexico |
TNT Sports, TNT Go, Max Mexico |
Scott Parker is dealing with a brutal list of absentees, although he will be boosted by the return of Lyle Foster and ex-United man Hannibal Mejbri from the Africa Cup of Nations. Whether or not they can feature on Wednesday remains to be seen, but Axel Tuanzebe will be missing against his old side due to international commitments.
There is an array of injury issues elsewhere for the Clarets—Jordan Beyer, Maxime Estève, Connor Roberts and Joe Worrall affecting their backline alone.
Josh Cullen is a major miss in midfield—he’s out for the season with an ACL tear—while Zeki Amdouni is absent with the same injury. Zian Flemming is unlikely to feature up top due to a knock.
Burnley predicted lineup vs. Man Utd (5-4-1): Dúbravka; Walker, Laurent, Ekdal, Humphreys, Pires; Bruun Larsen, Ugochukwu, Florentino, Anthony; Broja.
United are hopeful that Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount can feature in the squad against Burnley, but it appears unlikely that either will start the match at Turf Moor. The Red Devils will definitely have them back for the Manchester derby on Jan. 17.
Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui are all still competing at AFCON and will be unavailable, while the trio of Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo are absent through injury.
Fletcher appears unlikely to utilise Amorim’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system and will probably field a formation resembling a 4-2-3-1.
Man Utd predicted lineup vs. Burnley (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Dalot, Yoro, Martínez, Shaw; Casemiro, Ugarte; Dorgu, Zirkzee, Cunha; Šeško.
Chaos and uncertainty engulfs United ahead of their trip to Turf Moor and that doesn’t bode well for their chances of securing victory, especially with so many important players absent. However, they boast a far superior squad and are facing a side in dreadful form and with plenty of absentees themselves.
United should sneak over the line however unconvincing, with the exit of Amorim perhaps galvanising certain members of the squad. We’re backing a narrow triumph for the Red Devils, less as a result of their qualities and more as an indictment of Burnley.
