Manchester United will look to bounce back from the disappointing defeat in the Manchester Derby when we return to the Europa League action with a trip away to Omonia Nicosia on Thursday evening. United have so far taken three points from our opening two games in the competition to sit second in group E, whilst our opponents are currently bottom of the group without any points.
The Red Devils suffered at the hands of our rivals Manchester City in a 6-3 defeat as we were unable to stop Erling Braut Haaland and Phil Foden both scoring hat-tricks against us. Whilst, Antony and Anthony Martial restored a little pride, we were just powerless in combating the opposition attack. This saw our four game winning run in the league come to an end.
Having won this many games in a row, it could have counted as a good preparation to face the current Premier League champions. However, United were dismantled from pillow to post which led to criticism from pundits, fans, and those in the media.
It is clearly going to take some time for Erik Ten Hag to get things on the right track. We have lost the last two of our three games in all competitions. In between these defeats was the 2-0 victory over Sheriff Tiraspol which leaves us second in the group behind leaders Real Sociedad.
United and Omonia have never played competitively against each other before. However, the opposition has lost all four of their previous games against English opposition. After our defensive performance against City, it would certainly give Omonia hope that they can cause an upset.
Manchester United Team News
For United, Raphael Varane suffered an ankle injury during the Manchester Derby. Though it is not too serious, it is expected he will miss this game. Harry Maguire remains out as he continues to recover from his hamstring injury. Martin Dubravka and Donny van de Beek are doubts, though were probably not expected to feature anyway. Cristiano Ronaldo was left on the bench during the City game out of “respect” according to Ten Hag. It is likely that Anthony Martial will be preferred to lead the line after scoring a brace on Sunday.
Manchester United’s Predicted Lineup
De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Eriksen; Antony, Fernandes, Elanga and Martial.
Opposition Preview
It was always going to be a hard task for Omonia Nicosia to compete in this group going up against United and Real Sociedad. Their European adventure could come to an early end after back-to-back defeats against Sheriff Tiraspol and Real Sociedad. They are currently managed by former Celtic manager Neil Lennon.
They came close to grabbing a point against Real Sociedad after Bruno Felipe had equalised following Ander Guevara’s early strike. However, Alexander Sorloth scored ten minutes from time to give La Liga team the win and all three points.
Omonia Nicosia has only scored one goal but have conceded five goals in the competition so far to sit bottom of the group after the first two matches. They can at least take some confidence into this game having achieved back-to-back wins in the league over Enosis and Doxa. Whilst they scored six goals and conceded none in those two games, they have only won one of their last 26 European matches excluding qualifiers.
Omonia Nicosia Team News
For our opponents, they are without Moreto Cassama who went off injured after 13 minutes of their last Europa League game against Real Sociedad. He missed the league win at the weekend and is a major doubt ahead of the match against United. Hector Yuste also suffered an injury in their last Europa League. He was fit enough to make the bench for the league game at the weekend. Roman Bezus will be looking to be in the starting eleven in the number 10 role ahead of Fotis Papoulis
Form Guide
Manchester United Europa League form: LW
Manchester United form (all competitions): WWWLWL
Omonia Nicosia Europa League form: WWLL
Omonia Nicosia form (all competitions): WLLLWW
Prediction
Omonia Nicosia will have some confidence ahead of this game having achieved back-to-back wins in the league. So United will have to be wary of the threat they posed. The Red Devils will want to boost their morale after the disappointment of City away at the weekend and this is the perfect game to get back to winning ways again.
Omonia Nicosia 0-2 Manchester United
