Manchester United will enter the decisive week with the Manchester Derby. The team is facing a difficult personnel problem when wondering whether Senne Lammens or Altay Bayindir will be the main goalkeeper.
On the last day of the 2025 summer transfer window, Man United officially announced the recruitment of Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp in a move to strengthen the goal position after a turbulent summer. At the same time, Andre Onana is about to complete a loan deal to Türkiye, withdrawing from the direct competition, leaving behind a trio of goalkeepers including Senne Lammens, Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton.
Altay Bayindir has experience advantages but many weaknesses
Bayindir has the advantage of understanding the formation and operation of Man United's defense. He also has experience as a starting forward and has been trusted by Amorim in the early stages of the season. This season's indicators show that Bayindir is capable of saving many situations such as the match against Fulham.
However, at the same time, there were criticisms related to handling the hot air balloons and fixed situations, weaknesses that were easily exploited by strong air war teams. Experts' reviews in the past few days have highlighted this weakness, questioning the safety of Bayindir being used in the Manchester Derby.
Senne Lammens is a potential rookie but lacks experience in the Premier League
Senne Lammens has a very impressive record as a young goalkeeper (23 years old), 1.93m tall, is highly appreciated for his reflexes, good face and is especially famous in Belgium for his penalty saving ability. Man United's recruitment of Lammens is described as a "long-term investment".
However, Senne Lammens has no experience playing in the Premier League, an environment rich in speed, requiring the ability to withstand high pressure. Therefore, if he was taken into the Manchester Derby right away, it would be a game with high risks both professionally and psychologically.
tactical factors of the Derby
The Manchester Derby is a comprehensive test with diverse attacks, quick coordination in the halfway half with high-stroke kicks and long-range shots. Therefore, Ruben Amorim needs a goalkeeper who is both capable of distributing the ball to handle when the home team is pressed at high altitudes, having to master the penalty area, compete with the ball and organize a defense when under pressure.
In the context of Man City having players who know how to take advantage of space and often press the ball into weak points inside the penalty area, the ability to read situations and command this area is something that cannot be underestimated. This is the reason why Amorim needs a seasoned goalkeeper with enough courage right away.
Will Ruben Amorim bet on Senne Lammens?
The advantage of letting Lammens catch is that if this rookie performs well, the rebound will be felt immediately. However, the obvious disadvantage is that Lammens lack experience in the Premier League, lack of practice time with the new defense and the pressure at Manchester Derby can easily lead to mistakes.
Conversely, if Bayindir continues to start, this will be a safe option. However, the safe here is not necessarily good as criticism of the Turkish stars ability to deal with the ball is still an inherent weakness.
Ruben Amorim will make the most reasonable choice based on closely monitoring the final training session before the match to assess the reliability level. If Lammens meet all the minimum criteria such as command, pressure reflex, and coordination with defenders in air war training, giving this rookie the opportunity will be a gamble that can be exchanged for a long-term, effective transition.
If Lammens do not succeed, keeping Bayindir is a practical choice and will have to accept the risk. In any case, Amorim must prepare a tight defense, minimizing corner kicks and high balls from Man City at the Etihad this weekend.
