Tonight, Manchester United will welcome Granada to Old Trafford for their Europa League quarter-final clash. Read this piece for some insightful Manchester United vs Granada predictions.
United enjoyed a 2-0 first-leg victory in Spain, where Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes scored either side of the half-time whistle.
The two teams will now play the second leg of the clash, hoping to ease into the semi-finals. It seems that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side has one foot squarely in the final four.
Team news:
Manchester United:
The Red Devils’ already dominant position would suggest Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may take the chance to rest some players.
Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, and Luke Shaw are all suspended for today. All three faced yellow cards in the first leg.
Meanwhile, after nearly a month of isolation in Ivory Coast due to COVID-19, Eric Bailly has returned to Manchester. However, Solskjaer has confirmed that he will not be eligible to play tonight.
Marcus Rashford may not risk starting since Dan James is back in the lineup. Rashford is anyway a doubt for the match against Granada because he missed Wednesday’s training session.
Phil Jones and Anthony Martial may also remain on the sidelines.
Edinson Cavani will most likely be leading the United line, hoping to continue from where he left off against Tottenham.
In his stead, thus, Mason Greenwood may lead the line.
So, for United the starting team may look a bit like this:
Manchester United predicted XI (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Telles; Fred, Matic; Greenwood, Fernandes, Pogba; Cavani
Injury list: Martial, Jones, Bailly
Doubts: James, Rashford
Manchester United provisional squad: De Gea, Henderson, Grant, Bishop, Wan-Bissaka, Williams, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Fish, Telles, Fred, James, Mata, Matic, Pogba, Van De Beek, Fernandes, Diallo, Shoretire, Cavani, Elanga, Greenwood, Rashford
Granada:
Granada have won just one of their last five matches and are attempting to overturn a two-goal deficit. They broke a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over Real Valladolid on the weekend.
However, they are without Domingos Duarte and Yan Eteki, who have been suspended due to a build-up of bookings.
Indeed, the Spanish side will definitely be missing six players on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Granada’s forward prospects have been bolstered by the return of Luis Suarez from injury.
Roberto Soldado, a former Tottenham forward, was suspended at the weekend but is expected to return to the starting XI here.
Granada predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Silva; Foulquier, Sanchez, Vallejo, Neva; Herrera, Gonalons; Puertas, Montoro, Machis; Suarez
Manchester United vs Granada Predictions:
- Granada are unlikely to overturn the deficit. But they will arrive at Old Trafford having ended a four-game losing streak.
- After scoring two unanswered goals in the first leg away from home, Manchester United is in good shape going into tonight’s match.
- United seem to be on track for a semi-final berth after putting in all the effort in Spain last week.
- Martinez could be looking at a stunning reversal in the tie if Granada smootly score on new territory.
- A reshuffled Red Devils backline won’t stop an in-form United from having consistency, though beset by injuries and suspensions.
- So, we can only expect Solskjaer’s side through cruise to the semi-finals in the second leg.
