Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy is adamant he has seen signs of significant Manchester United improvement under Ruben Amorim.
United have had their struggles since the Portuguese took over following Van Nistelrooy’s short but successful spell as interim manager, which included two victories over his new club.
The two sides met in the FA Cup in February and United needed an offside goal in the final minute to earn a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
There appear to be green shoots of recovery under Amorim – they reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday night – and Van Nistelrooy insists they are a better side than the one Leicester played last month.
‘It’s important to realise that we played the cup game away, not so long ago,” he said ahead of Sunday’s visit of United.
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‘I think United is in a better place than at the time that we played in the cup.
‘They had a very good game against Arsenal and yesterday, they were very strong. Obviously, it’s a great boost that they’re in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
‘That’s a great boost and a good win.’
Skipper Bruno Fernandes has come under-fire in recent weeks in his role as captain, but Van Nistelrooy has noticed the United captain’s form appears to be mirroring that of his improving side.
‘Bruno (Fernandes) is in great form, scoring a hat-trick and then scored the free-kick against Arsenal, so very decisive in that team,’ he said.
‘So, it’s a team that I think got some momentum going, especially after yesterday. It’s definitely a team that is in a better place than when we played them in the FA Cup.’
Leicester’s plight is not looking as positive as they are on a seemingly-irreversible slide to Premier League relegation.
They have lost 12 of their last 13 games and are six points adrift of safety.
But Van Nistelrooy admitted results were not matching performances.
He added: ‘We showed against Chelsea, we showed up, we were there. I think if you saw us playing and you don’t know any context, then you would see a team and say, ‘OK, this is a proper team”
‘A positive result would do us really good. That is really clear, it’s what we’re working for and what we took from the Chelsea game.
‘It’s what we’ve worked on this week to develop the structures we’ve put in place. We were able to build on that and bring it into Sunday’s game.
‘With the (international) break, it would give a good boost to get a positive result.’
