Manchester United comes to Atlanta match looking to continue improvement

The Premier League Summer Series has played in two of America’s great cities, Chicago and New York, and will finish in another, Atlanta, on Sunday.

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said the greatest thing he’s seen, the highlight of the preseason trip, isn’t the Statue of Liberty or the Chicago Bean.

Instead, it’s been watching his team improve in its past two matches, a 4-1 win against Bournemouth at Soldier Field and 2-1 win against West Ham at MetLife Stadium.

“Everything we did in training, they tried to do it,” Amorim said. “So I know that is not the most exciting thing for you guys, but that was the most exciting moment — to see my team playing with that intensity.”

Amorim is wrapping up his first preseason with the Red Devils, once the most successful club in England. He was hired from Sporting Lisbon in Portugal in November 2024 to try to correct a team that wasn’t keeping pace with rivals Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal in the Premier League. Manchester United finished 11-18-9, 15th in the standings. It was the third time in four seasons the team didn’t finish among the top four. That’s shocking for a club that has won the Premier League 12 times as part of 20 first-division titles.

The work Amorim and the team are doing this summer was designed to try to push the club back into the contenders.

Amorim wants to see in the third match against Everton — scheduled to start at 5 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium — the same elements he saw in the first two.

“I hope to see a team that is really aggressive, that sometimes we can play worse than the last game, but the small things, the important things, like effort and focus in the game has to be there at the same level,” he said.

EPL Summer Series

The teams in the EPL Summer Series are Bournemouth, Everton, Manchester United and West Ham.

Bournemouth and Everton are scheduled to play at 2 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, followed by Manchester United versus Everton.

There will be an ePremier League fan event at the stadium 2-5 p.m. Saturday.

Bournemouth

Founded: 1899

Nickname: The Cherries

Last year’s record: Ninth, 15-12-11

Manager: Andoni Iraola

Key players (2024-25 stats): Justin Kluivert (12 goals, 6 assists), Antoine Semenyo (11 goals, 5 assists), Evanilson (10 goals), Tyler Adams.

Trophies: one League One title, one Championship title

Everton

Founded: 1878

Nickname: The Toffees

Last year’s record: 13th, 11-12-15

Manager: David Moyes

Key players: Iliman Ndiaye (9 goals), Beto (8 goals), Dwight McNeil (7 assists)

Trophies: nine first-division titles, five FA Cups

Manchester United

Founded: 1878

Nickname: The Red Devils

Last year’s record: 15th, 11-18-9

Manager: Ruben Amorim

Key Players: Bruno Fernandes (8 goals, 11 assists), Amad (8 goals, 6 assists), Alejandro Garnacho (6 goals, 2 assists), Rasmus Hojlund (4 goals)

Trophies: 20 first-division titles, 13 FA Cups, three Champions Leagues

West Ham

Founded: 1895

Nickname: The Hammers or The Irons

Last year’s record: 14th, 11-17-10