Ruben Amorim can be proven right at Manchester United this week - but it is down to his players

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim will enjoy the rare luxury of a clear midweek this week after his side automatically qualified for the last-16 of the Europa League last month.

United finished the league phase of the new Europa League format third in the table, meaning they are one of eight clubs who have automatically progressed to the first knockout round of the competition.

Those who finished between ninth and 24th now face a two-legged play-off tie to try and join United in the last-16, with the first legs of those ties taking place this Thursday evening. The return legs will take place the following Thursday.

United went into their concluding league phase fixture against FCSB in Bucharest just under a fortnight ago with the knowledge that a win would be enough to see them through. Second half goals from Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo sealed a routine 2-0 win.

Amorim wanted to avoid the play-off round at all costs, saying ahead of the 2-1 win over Rangers a week earlier: "We need to win it because it is really important for the classification to try and avoid two games in the play-offs to have more time to train, so everything is important in this moment."

As a result of winning five and drawing three of their eight league phase outings, United can plan for Sunday's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without the distraction of a midweek assignment.

United have experienced something of a fixture marathon since Amorim's first game in charge on November 24, playing 20 games in just under 11 weeks. The longest period they went without a game during that time was just seven days.

That seven-day period came between United's 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield, which they had