The one they call “Baby Courtois” Senne Lammens has officially made his Manchester United debut and has already won the hearts of many United. The 23-year-old had a solid goalkeeping performance which is something Man Utd fans have been yearning for and missing for the past 2 years since the departure of club legend David De Gea. After arriving from Royal Antwerp on deadline day for €21m (Plus Add-Ons), it was surprising that in Manchester United’s first 3 games since the September international break that the Belgian goalkeeper had not made an appearance for the club however that could be seen as manager Ruben Amorim taking precautions to make sure that Lammens is up to speed on his system as well as the Premier League.
United’s Goalkeeping Duo
Since David De Gea’s departure in 2023, Manchester United replaced the Spanish veteran goalkeeper with André Onana and Altay Bayindir. Together the goalkeeping duo have collectively made 119 appearances for Man Utd and agonisingly together they have only managed to keep 27 Clean Sheets between them. Both goalkeepers’ struggles at Old Trafford can be summed up with questionable save techniques, uncertain goalkeeper positioning, anxiety inducing handling of the football, slow reactions and costly decision making when playing out from the back. This season alone both goalkeepers’ struggles became the forefront of United’s problems in some of the club’s most humiliating defeats this season that include Man Utd being knocked out of the EFL Cup by 4th English Division side Grimsby Town and once again failing to win away against Brentford since 2022.
Old Trafford Debut
After remaining on the bench for Man Utd’s games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Brentford, Senne Lammens finally made his debut for the club against newly promoted Sunderland. The Belgian International made a solid debut for the club and securing his and the club’s first clean sheet for the season. The goalkeeper seemingly erasing all the issues that Man Utd have been having in their goalkeeping department; making solid saves, being able to play out from the back, claiming balls in the air and of course keeping a clean sheet. Senne Lammens numbers in that game looked like this:
- 52 Total Touches
- 11 Ball Recoveries
- 3 Saves
- 2 High Claims
- 0 Goals Conceded
The 23-year-old’s calming presence in goal was instrumental in Manchester United’s 2-0 victory of Sunderland and it was the most confident Man Utd have looked all season so far. It may have only been just 1 game but it looks safe to say Man Utd have made a good signing that helps address some of their more major issues.
Reds Derby
After the October international break, Manchester United are set to face rivals Liverpool away at Anfield in the Premier League. It remains to be seen who Ruben Amorim choses to be in goal for that huge game, new young goalkeeper Senne Lammens who is off to a brilliant start to his life at Man Utd or Altay Bayindir the more experienced goalkeeper who has great goalkeeping distribution. This derby is already a massive game in any season however this derby is vitally important for both clubs. Man Utd are looking to win back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since Ruben Amorim’s appointment and Liverpool are looking to get back to winning ways following their streak of loses to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea. October 19, 2025 looks to set to be a memorable derby that will heavily influence both teams’ season going forward.
