MATCH PREVIEW - MANCHESTER UNITED v COPENHAGEN

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 -By Varun Sangwan


TRIVIA

Venue - RheinEnergie Stadion , Cologne
Kick Off - Monday, August 10 - 20:00 GMT 
                 Tuesday, August 11 - 00:30 IST
                                                  
Title favourites Manchester United face off against FC Copenhagen  in the last-8 knockout stage of the Europa League. The Red Devils come into the game in fine form after fully finishing off LASK with a 2 - 1 win courtesy of goals from Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial shortly after LASK took the lead , winning the tie 7 - 1 on aggregate. United got the chance to rest key players with only Harry Maguire and Brandon Williams retained from the side that beat Leicester to secure Champions League qualification. The Red Devils will be looking to get to only their second European semi-final in the post-Fergie era. Last time was in the 2106-17 Europa League which the Red Devil's ended up winning..

Copenhagen can prove to be tough opponents as they have lost only once since July finishing second in the Danish Superliga both in the regular season and playoffs and are poised to have a qualification campaign for the Europa League next season.. They recently beat Istanbul Basaksehir 3 - 0 to qualify for the quater-finals, their first time ever in any European competiotn. They are also the first Danish side to reach a major UEFA European tournament's quater-final since Brondby IF back in 1997. 

Manchester United and FC Copenhagen have met each other only on two occasions, both in the group stages of the 2006-07 Champions League group stages where Manchester United won 3 - 0 at Old Trafford before losing the away fixture 1 - 0 which is also the only time FC Copenhagen have beaten an English side...



ELSE WHERE IN THE COMPETITION...

Wolves will play Sevilla who recently beat AS Roma 2 - 0 to progress to the last 8. They will however find it tough to beat Wolves who would be looking to set up a mouthwatering semifinal clash against Manchester United , their fifth meeting this season.. 

On the other side Shakhtar Donetsk play FC Basel and should beat them comfortably and an interesting Match up with either Inter Milan or Bayer Leverkusen ( a game which could go either way but I favour Inter Milan to win and progress) will be on the cards in the semi-final. 

Check out our Europa League Preview  also...


TEAM FORM

Manchester United have only lost one game since Bruno Fernandes arrived and that was against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final. Since the resumption of football, there has been a feel good factor to how Manchester United have been playing with Ole having promised that he will get us playing the United Way - Fast , wide attacking football.. Manchester United have already secured Champions Football by finishing 3rd in the Premier League. They recently beat LASK 2 - 1 with the reserves getting some game time keeping the first team fresh and raring to go.  

Copenhagen come into the game against United in respectable form, having only lost once since July and recently getting the better of Istanbul Basaksehir, beating them 3 - 0 and 3 - 1 on aggregate all thanks to their reliable forward Jonas Wind who will be looking ot add to his tally....

TEAM NEWS

Axel Tuanzebe and Luke Shaw are ruled out for the remainder of the season. Phil Jones was a doubt and has not traveled with the squad to Cologne so he is also out. Diogo Dalot and Victor Lindelof were doubts but should be fit to be available for the game against Copenhagen

As for Copenhagen, Victor Fisher , Ragnar Sigurdsson  and Nikolaj Thomsen are doubts and Michael Santos is suspended. 

PREDICTED TEAM

Having rested his key players in the previous week, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will look to field his strongest available eleven. Some youth prospects like Mengi and Chong should also find their way on the bench. 

The main dilemma will be whether Sergio Romero should start over David De Gea. According to me Sergio Romero should and will start because he has been extremely consistent in Cup competitions. 

Here is my predicted lineup : 





PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR


ANTHONY MARTIAL : It is no secret that whenever Anthony Martial performs, the entire team plays well. The Frenchman this season has been remarkably consistent and is our leading scorer with 23 games in all competitions and has formed a telepathic understanding with Marcus Rashford. His impact is immense as seen against LASK when he came off the bench and scored the winner making him THE ONE TO WATCH OUT FOR...


VERDICT

Copenhagen shouldn't really test our side that much and we should be comfortably through to the semi-finals.

MY PREDICTION : Manchester United 4 - 0 Copenhagen. Bruno and Martial to score.

HITANSHU'S PREDICTION : Manchester United 3 - 0 Copenhagen.
Manchester United Matchday Articles, Transfer News, Player Articles | We're not just a Club | We're a Heartbeat | We're Manchester United | GGMU

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