Manchester United will be looking to consolidate their place at the top of Europa League Group A when they travel to Turkey to face Fenerbahce on Thursday. Two weeks ago the Red Devils hammered Fenerbahce 4-1 at Old Trafford, with two goals from Paul Pogba, while former Arsenal and Man United player Robin van Persie scored the consolation goal for the visitors. That was the third win out of five direct matches for Manchester United, but they have not won away at Fenerbahce since 1996.
Fenerbahce had a rather poor start to their season in the Turkish top flight, they are fifth in the table after having won just four of their nine matches so far. However, after the defeat at Old Trafford, they secured two consecutive wins, including a 5-0 thumping of Karabuk last week. They are currently third in the Europa League Group A table, two points behind Man United and Feyenoord, so they need to at least avoid defeat on Thursday if they want to maintain a realistic chance of qualifying. Fernandao and Ozan Tufan are injured and won't play against the Red Devils.
Manchester United are not going through happy times, they won just two of their last six matches in all competitions, with both victories coming outside the Premier League. It's true that their last win was an important one against rivals Manchester City in the League Cup, but a few days after that great victory they got held to a goalless draw at Old Trafford by Burnley. Eric Bailly, Antonio Valencia and Chris Smalling are injured and won't make the trip to Turkey, while Phil Jones could make his first appearance of the season, probably off the bench.
Probable line-ups:
Fenerbahce: Volkan - Ozbayrakli, Kjaer, Skrtel, Kaldirim - Souza, Neustadter, Topal - Lens, Van Persie, Sen
Man United: De Gea - Darmian, Blind, Rojo, Shaw - Fellaini, Herrera - Lingard, Mkhitarian, Martial - Rooney
My prediction: 1-1 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Fenerbahce win - 3.40
Draw - 3.40
Man United win - 2.30
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