Manchester United opinion: Manchester United – Europa League preview
Manchester United have now played in this competition more often than they’d have liked to but there is a massive difference this time. Clearly, they aren’t expecting to win their domestic league any longer.
That hasn’t been the case for a few years but because of the legacy and history of the club, that has almost been a real issue in previous seasons.
They go into this competition without superstar names and big egos but with players who’re hungry for minutes with their extremely young squad. A lot of very talented players from the academy will find this a great chance to make a name for themselves as Marcus Rashford did a few years ago.
They also won the competition in the 2016/17 season and will be going into it once again as one of the favourites.
Fixture analysis
They’ve been drawn in Group L alongside Astana FC, AZ Alkmaar and Partizan Belgrade. Astana FC are the representatives from Kazakhastan and the long journey will be something that they will have to keep in mind.
They also face one of Serbia’s biggest sides in Partizan Belgrade in another difficult away trip and will most likely be resting their senior players for these two games.
The fixture against AZ Alkmaar will be a blessing relatively and it’ll also be a homecoming for Sergio Romero, who’s likely to play most of the Europa League fixtures.
Predictions
Manchester United have trimmed down their squad massively and are unlikely to risk top-four for a Europa League trophy if it comes down to the two as it’s impossible to predict a cup competition.
They should top their group quite easily and maybe even make inroads to the latter stages and will mostly make the semi-final stages at the least. A lot of things will depend on how their Premier League campaign turns out.