Three wins and one loss have left Manchester United in a fairly comfortable position going into Thursday night’s Europa League tie against Sheriff Tiraspol at Old Trafford.
Is there jeopardy? Perhaps a little.
An away win could see Sheriff go into the final match-day just three points behind United, with only Omonia left to play.
Also, while United are unlikely not to reach the knockout stages, there could still be a sting in the tail if they do. If the Red Devils draw and see Real Sociedad beat Omonia Nicosia, then they’ll be confirmed as the runners up in Group E. This could leave Erik ten Hag’s men in a slightly sticky situation in the next round, as runners up in each group will face teams dropping out of the Champions League.
Sociedad are very likely to overcome Omonia, so a draw on Thursday night could leave United with a tricky next Europa League fixture.
MANCHESTER UNITED
United have found form in the Premier League but losing Raphael Varanne on Saturday was a huge blow. However, this match offers an important chance to likely replacement, Victor Lindelof, to gain important minutes and match sharpness.
Otherwise, United have offered relatively fluid attacking football in the Premier League which we have seen stall in Europe League fixtures.
The 2-0 away win against Sheriff in Moldova came thanks to a Jadon Sancho goal and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty. United stuttered though and it’s been the case across our Europa League fixtures. Fans will remember the rollercoaster 3-2 away win to Omonia Nicosia which seemed to embody United’s inconsistency in the competition this season. Ultimately, it feels hard to know what to expect performance-wise from Ten Hag’s side this Thursday night.
LINE-UP
When it comes to the line-up, the on-going debate that rages around Cristiano Ronaldo, with his performances and his poor attitude, will no doubt flare up again.
If Ronaldo is played against Sheriff – does that represent ‘disrespect’ towards his career? If he’s not, does it show that his time at United is coming to an end? It can be argued either way and – for our part – we’re quite ready for Ronaldo to leave.
Whether or not Cristiano plays a role in Thursday night’s game is almost by-the-by, but we think it would make sense to see him start. We’re short of striking options at the moment, with Antony Martial working his way back from injury – and it would be worth resting Marcus Rashford for the league campaign. The Manchester native already has three Premier League goals to his name from 11 appearances this season, having only managed four last year. Comparably, Ronaldo has managed one from eight appearances. Rashford in fine form and could be needed against West Ham this weekend.
Of course, Raphael Varane is also missing, following the injury he sustained against Chelsea. Conversely, we expect to see the slightly out of favour Tyrell Malacia given another chance on the left. After a promising start, hopefully he can redeem himself and make up for the mistake-ridden performance away to Omonia.
We expect the line-up to look something like this:
De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia; McTominay, Eriksen; Elanga, Fernandes, Antony; Ronaldo
OPPOSITION
Oddly, top of the Moldovan league Sheriff Tiraspol have parted ways with their manager just days before the Old Trafford clash. Reportedly the manager blamed himself for the team’s most recent defeat, claiming he had them too focused on the Europa League.
In the away leg of this fixture, United won 2-0 but didn’t make easy work of it at all. Sheriff registered more shots on goal – 11 to United’s 8 – and generally showed a reasonable level of threat on goal, without actually getting on the score sheet.
With little to lose, we can expect Sheriff to come at United all guns blazing in this tie in an attempt to please their away following. However a more gung-ho attitude could play into United’s hands, leaving more space for pacey players like Antony and Elanga to counter-attack into.
PREDICTION
Performance or not, we expect a Manchester United win. However, a likely return to the centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, (Martinez is likely to be rested,) could also make us defensively fragile.
As a result – and with the handbrake off for both teams to an extent – we’re plumping for a high-scoring 3-2 Manchester United win. Here’s hoping for some entertainment.
In our video preview, Joe Smith and Jay Motty had more confidence in United’s ability to keep a clean sheet, predicting 3-0 and 2-0 wins respectively. What do you think the score will be? Get in touch on Twitter and let us know.