vs Competition: UEFA Europa League Venue: Old Trafford Time: 20:05 (BST), 15:05 (EST) Channels: BT Sport 4K UHD (UK), BT Sport 2(UK), MUTV(UK), Fox Sports 1 USA(US), Fox Soccer 2GO(US), Fox Sports GO(US), fuboTV(US), ESPN Deportes USA(US), ESPN Deportes+ USA(US), TSN1(Canada), TSN4(Canada) Manchester United injuries: Jones (toe), Smalling (leg), Mata (groin), Rooney (hamstring) RSC Anderlecht injuries: Martínez (calf), Nájar (hamstring) Manchester United last 6: W-D-D-W-D-W RSC Anderlecht last 6: W-W-W-D-D-W Manchester United last league result: 2-0 home win over chelsea RSC Anderlecht last league result: 0-1 away win at KV Oostende Manchester United league standing: 5th RSC Anderlecht league standing: 1st Last Encounter: 1-1 away draw at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium (1st leg) Manchester United last starting XI (3-5-2): Romero, Darmian, Bailly, Rojo, Valencia, Fellaini, Pogba, Herrera, Young (c), Lingard, Rashford RSC Anderlecht last starting XI (4-3-3): Boeckx, Kara, Spajić, Obradović, Appiah, Dendoncker, Tielemans, Trebel, Hanni(c), Chipciu, Teodorczyk ===================== finely poised. we have the away goal but hopefully it doesn't come to that to decide it. another clean sheet would do nicely. Mancunicons transform and attack!
Not sure about "easy", but it will be a win. Don't overlook the possibility of a letdown from glorious victory. Still, bet on us to go through.
My guess would be a return for Ibra and Mkhi. I would hope also for Martial. They will have to attack eventually and that should create opportunities. The biggest worry is midfield. Fellaini and Herrera expended a great deal of energy last time out. Carrick is a no brained as he is rested and Pogba will play too. For my money I would like to see TFM from the start. That should make up for Anders absence in the energy dept and also add some bite. Mkhi on the right and Martial or Rashford on the left. Shaw at LB too to provide a little more width. I doubt we see that team, but I can hope.
A great call, johno. We can assume Anderlecht will sit back and hope for a tasty set piece. It's hard to see Rashford not starting over Martial though, so perhaps this: De Gea Valencia Bailly Rojo Darmian Carrick Fellaini Pogba Miki Ibra Rashford This match is too massive for us to give Fosu-Mensah the start. But if we can salt it away by the 60th minute I'd like to see him come on then for Carrick and gain valuable experience. Same with Martial after Rashford has helped Ibra end all doubts by the middle of the second half.
We need to play on the front foot and at a high tempo. If that means Ibrahimovic needs to run himself into the ground for an hour before being replaced then so be it. We cannot return to the performances of old.
Agreed with the points re the midfield, but I'd still give Herrera the start for this one with a place on the bench vs Burnley. He didn't play in the first leg after all, so he's really got the game vs Chelsea in his leg for the week +. The rest of the picks are pretty straightforward as well. Time to rotate again and bring back all 4 of Shaw, Zlatan, Miki and Martial. For me, I want to see: Dave Valencia. Bailly. Rojo. Shaw Carrick Herrera. Pogba Miki. Zlatan. Martial Rashford and Lingard both performed well vs Chelsea, but the idea is not to burn either one out and keep guys fresh as much as possible. They could still come off the bench if needed. Love the duo of Bailly and Rojo but the number of consecutive games they are logging in, is kind of a worry. Then again, this is not the game to remove them. Tuanzebe hopefully will get a start over the weekend (maybe even with Blind). Romero acquitted himself very well as Dave's deputy and if Jose wants to persist with him in EL play, have no issues with it either. Zlatan is a proud guy and I'm pretty sure he will look to have a big game Thursday.
Prepare to be disappointed. Anderlecht is no Chelsea and if you expect them to play an open game, thus allowing us high tempo, then I'd like to talk to you about some prime swamp property in Florida. Anderlecht will sit back with 9 men in front of the keeper. There will be no "high tempo" until after we score the first goal. At that point Anderlecht will have to go for it and when they do we can use pace to beat them.
You can't have "high tempo" if the ball moves quickly and the players aren't. Anderlecht will likely pack 9 in front of the keeper and unless we were to bring in one-touch artists like Messi and Neymar in over the next 24 hours our route to scoring goals will be through brute force or shots from distance. No chance we can carve up their back line with one-touch passing. Not with this squad. At some point, after we take the lead, Anderlecht will have to expand their game and when they do you'll see a high tempo from both sides. But not for long. Once we're in the clear 2-0 the tie we'll sit, defend and play with both eyes on the referee's watch. We go to Turf Moor three days later and because of our delightfully unexpected win over Chelsea it's a match we have to try to win. Fatigue from the Chelsea match will also be a contributing factor to our play, although it's hard to say to what extent the players who played on Sunday -- and I'm thinking of Fellaini, Pogba, Bailly and Rojo in particular -- will still be feeling the effects of their exertions against Chelsea. It wouldn't be shocking to see Carrick start over Herrera and I would imagine Miki and Martial will also get the start. They're all fine players (concerned about Martial, however) but none would be thought of right now as high tempo players. Young and Darmian, both of whom put in solid performances against Chelsea, might also get the start. Neither are thought of as high tempo players. Valencia, not a high tempo guy. Ibra will get the start. I trust you agree that Ibra is not known as a high tempo player.
Moving the ball slowly allows the opponent to get back into a compact defensive position. Anderlecht need to score to progress so they will not simply be sitting back. We need to exploit this.
Jose has confirmed in his press conference today ahead of tomorrow's game, that Romero will keep his place in EL games. Also mentioned that Rooney is on the mend and could make the squad.
it makes no sense for Anderlecht to bunker. there is no "after we take the lead" - we already have the lead on away goals. they have to come out and attack because they are already losing
That is exactly the point. Anderlecht should be very aware they're not going to keep a clean sheet tomorrow, and they have to score themselves if they're to have any hopes of qualification. Even if they don't throw caution to the wind, they can't expect to sit down and bunker visit United tomorrow. Unlike the first leg when he left his 2 best offensive players on the bench, I fully expect the manager to play one of Teodorcyck or Hanni, probably both tomorrow. United, being at home, will very likely be the team on the front foot, but we can be sure to see Anderlecht being adventurous themselves, particularly by trying to hit United on the break every chance they get.
A real sense from the presser that Anderlecht might go with a weakened side v #MUFC ahead of huge title clash with Brugge on Sunday.— Kris Voakes (@krisvoakes) April 19, 2017
So that you don't misunderstand me, I'm not suggesting that we must play at a Van Gaalian snail's pace. But the reality is that a bus parking opponent isn't going to be beaten with high tempo. That's not how bus parkers operate. If instead Anderlecht do go for it from the first whistle, we'll have a high tempo game on our hands and both of us will have our insatiable demand for entertainment satisfied. But Anderlecht would be fools to go all out for it from the first whistle and expose themselves to a counterattack goal which would effectively end the tie as they'd then have to increase the tempo even more and expose themselves even more. 90+ minutes is a long time and what's more likely to come from the Belgian side is a cagey defensive scheme where they'll pick their battles carefully. A midfield strip (much like Ander's interception which led to the Rashford goal) to put us on the back foot. If they can pull that off and go up 0-1, you know they'll sit back and let us have lots of possession. We shall see.
Already got that sense in the first leg, when they deliberately left 2 of their most talented players out. Anderlecht, as it happens almost yearly, are in the thick of a title race for the Belgian league and that's probably their focus, as opposed to the EL, which is good for United obviously.
I agree with you. They will try and sit back as long as they can, try to get to the last 30 mins unscathed and then give it a shot going forward.
The squad for today: Dave, Romero, Pereira, Valencia, Darmian, Bailly, Rojo, Shaw, Herrera, Carrick, Fellaini, Pogba, Lingard, AY, Miki, Martial, Rooney, Rashford, Zlatan
But Anderlecht can't compete with us in a high tempo game. They need to score, obviously, but they don't have the horsepower to compete with us at a tempo that would actually favor us over them. We've found it very difficult to break down 9 men in front of the keeper and everyone knows that. The playbook for an inferior team going up against United is to let us have the ball and hit us on the counter or make the most of a set piece. What we did to Chelsea, beating them in an open game, will not have gone unnoticed by the tacticians at Anderlecht. And as I understand it, Anderlecht have a path to the CL that's easier than beating United. And there apparently is potential for them fielding a weaker side today for their weekend match against Club Brugge. Not that I'm suddenly an expert on the Belgian league, mind you. Belgium has a unique playoff system to determine its league winner and it appears that Anderlecht are the heavy favorite to win it. We shall see, but it just seems very unlikely that Anderlecht will come to OT and play an open game against us. But to argue against myself, I suppose it's possible that since they appear to be in the driver's seat in their league playoff and appear (if the manager's presser comments are understood correctly) to be intent on playing a weakened side against United this just might be a throwaway game and, with there being no real pressure on them, they will go for it. In which case, anything can happen. And maybe Teso will be right after all that this will be a high tempo game, or that it should be, or whatever he's saying.
I am looking at it from their perspective. If we start Ibrahimovic and have slow build-up play as a result it gives them more leeway to be offensive as they know they will have time to get players back to defend. All they need to do is get a goal then they can bunker knowing that even if we score it will go to extra-time. If we start with a more dynamic approach and quick build-up play it forces Anderlecht into making a decision about when to attack and it leaves them more exposed if they lose possession when trying to do it. It makes life more difficult for them by forcing them onto the backfoot when they need to score.
Does Jose have the juevos to keep it young and fast up top? Zlatan sitting to start? We'll see. I agree with Teso-fast interplay, quick movement >ponderous buildup and sideways passing.
It all comes back to whether Anderlecht go out to a play a proper game of football or whethey sit back and hope to score on the counter or free kick. If we assume it's the latter, then we'll have that high tempo game you crave to bear witness to. (Can't imagine you ever watching a Serie A match.) But if we assume it's the former, it's by definition impossible to play a high tempo game against a parked bus. You bring out the parked bus precisely to slow the game down. And there's nothing we can do to force a parked bus to go into hear gear, except by scoring first at which time they're release the emergency brake and the LoJack. Against a parked bus you try whatever you've got in your arsenal to break them down. Maybe isolating Martial, maybe 1-2s between Lingard and Ibra, maybe a shot from the outside of the box by Ibra (see boro) or Pogba, maybe a cross to the dome of Fellaini. But it aint gonna be pace and quickness that will beat Anderlecht for the first goal unless they're dumb enough to play an open game against the superior side who hasn't lost a home game at OT in forever. We shall see.
If, as some have said, they are not really "into" this game and go with weakened side, then perhaps they'll play a more open game, which would be great for us.We shall see.