Andre Onana kept his ninth clean sheet of the Premier League season against a poor Manchester City side and will be confident ahead of the trip to Lyon this week.
It has been a far-from-perfect campaign in goal for the £44m goalkeeper who joined the club in 2023 from Inter Milan. Andre Onana has left many heads in hands at Old Trafford throughout this season as he dropped multiple clangers in goal.
Due to these issues in the goal for Manchester United, it has been speculated that Onana could be set for a Saudi Arabia switch. A transfer which would result in Amorim having the scope to sign a goalkeeper of his choosing.
| Rank | Player | Matches | Clean sheets | Percentage |
| 1 | Sels | 31 | 13 | 41.9% |
| 2 | Raya | 31 | 11 | 35.5% |
| 3 | Alisson | 21 | 9 | 42.9% |
| 4 | Henderson | 30 | 9 | 30% |
| 5 | Pickford | 31 | 9 | 29% |
| 6 | Onana | 31 | 9 | 29% |
| 7 | Ederson | 21 | 7 | 33.3% |
Despite his troubles, Onana has still tallied up the joint-third most clean sheets in the Premier League this season, despite having a poor shot save percentage. Onana was solid for United against City, and everyone knows that he has this kind of performance in his arsenal.
Ahead of United’s Europa League quarter-final tie against Lyon, Onana has been talking about the Red Devils’ chances of coming out on top in a game where Amorim will need his No.1 at his best.
The 29-year-old is full of confidence ahead of the game.
Andre Onana on Manchester United facing Lyon
Ahead of the game on Thursday night over in France, Onana has been speaking with Manchester Evening News about the game, in which he makes a bold claim.
Among Onana’s claims is an eight-word message which will likely be used as major motivation for Lyon players: “I think we are way better than them”, Onana stated amongst an interview in which he outlined his confidence.
“It’s a very good team,” Onana admitted to begin with of Lyon. “We know some of them, but I don’t think we have to focus on them. It’s more about us, what we’re going to do.
“I think we are better than them, we just have to go there and show who we are. If we go there with a winning mentality and we are focused, stay compact and together and we follow the game plan we will be winning the game.
“Of course, it’s not going to be easy, but I think we are way better than them. We all know the importance of this game, we will go there with the winning mentality, it’s not our best season but we still have something to win and we will go for it.”
This ultra-confident preview of the game could potentially bite Onana in the coming days should he have one of his now infamous blunders, which Amorim will be dreading.
Andre Onana’s Europa League record 2024/25
In eight games this season in the Europa League, Onana has conceded 10 goals and kept just one clean sheet this season. This is far from the dominant performances which would have filled us with confidence this week, with Onana particularly embarrassed by Twente.
However, there have been improvements from the 2023/24 season in which Onana’s performances were the main reason behind Erik ten Hag’s side crashing out of the group stage in the Champions League.
Onana has needlessly set a gauntlet for Lyon, which could end up looking foolish if the Ligue 1 side does end up beating United, as it is correct that on paper, this should be a win for the Red Devils.
United have been improving week on week lately, while Lyon are missing some of their best players and are far from the best side in the competition.
Amorim will be hoping to get through this tie stress-free, before a likely meeting with Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals.
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