‘We can beat any opponent’: Ten Hag confidently claims United ‘deserved’ to win vs Arsenal and ‘could’ve’ won at Anfield

Manchester United are now on a run of three successive Premier League wins and four consecutive wins in all competitions.

The results have clearly filled the squad with belief as on the pitch, they look as though they’re finally playing with confidence after such a tumultuous period over the first half of the campaign.

Erik ten Hag was also full of more faith than anyone following the Reds’ 2-1 win over Champions League-chasing Aston Villa away from home on Sunday night, as he claimed post-match (via Hayters TV): “I think we can beat any opponent, away or home. But sometimes away we have to believe it more because then we could’ve won at Arsenal, where actually we deserved there to win. We could’ve won in Liverpool.

“It’s about belief and I think this team today, they believed they would win this game and that’s why I think in the end, you win the game.”

At the Emirates in September, United fell to a dramatic 3-1 defeat after Alejandro Garnacho’s goal was – perhaps wrongly – disallowed, and Arsenal’s two goals to seal the victory came in the seventh and 11th minutes of injury time. Talk about deflating.

The aforementioned Anfield clash ended a stalemate and after last term’s 7-0 thrashing, most fans would’ve taken your hand off for a goalless draw before kick-off.

It’s still a bold claim given that United have lost 14 matches in total across all four competitions, however, if the manager isn’t trusting of his own players and what they can achieve, nobody else will be.