Victor Lindelof admits he has taken time to adapt to the toughness and competitiveness of the Premier League after making his big-money switch to Manchester United.
The Sweden international has been integrated slowly into the side by Jose Mourinho, but has started back-to-back Premier League matches due to injuries to United’s first-choice centre-backs.
At Benfica he romped to the title, but not only does the Premier League have more competition at the top – Man City are eight points clear – but the bottom sides are hard to beat too.
He told United’s official website: ‘Obviously, the league here is much tougher than Portugal.
‘Over there, you have good teams but you have the top teams that are always the favourites in every game and winning almost every game.
More: Football
‘Here, it’s much more difficult and you have tough games every week – that’s the biggest the change, the competitiveness you have in the league.’
Lindelof has credited both Mourinho and the club’s coaching staff for helping him get up to speed with the demands of Premier League football.
Manchester United 2017/18 Fixtures
Watford (A) – Tue 28 Nov
Arsenal (A) – Sat Dec 2
CSKA Moscow (H) – Tues Dec 5 (Champions League)
Manchester City (H) – Sun Dec 10
West Bromwich Albion (A) – Sun Dec 17
Bristol City (A) – Wed Dec 20 (EFL Cup)
Leicester City (A) – Sat Dec 23
Burnley (H) – Tues Dec 26
Southampton (H) – Sat Dec 30
He continued: ‘He’s a very good coach, in my opinion, the best in the world and, for me to be able to work with him, is a pleasure.
‘All of the staff and coaches as well, they are great and I am learning a lot from them.
‘I’m just trying to do my best to work hard every day and listen to them because they know a lot about football, so it’s about listening and learning.’
