Twitter-Manchester United
Manchester United will be on a high after securing a vital 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge over Chelsea as they now shift their focus to the Europa League. Though the Red Devils are in contention of making it into the top four, going the distance in the European competition has also been given priority by the United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Red Devils will be facing Belgium side Club Brugge for the first leg at the Jan Bareydel Stadium. Club Brugge won’t go down easy as they’ve lost just the one game at home in the Belgian Pro League this season. With that in mind, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his men will be eager to bag an away goal or two in order to get a massive advantage ahead of the return leg.
Match Details
Date- Thursday, February 20
Kick-Off- 11: 25 PM (IST)
Venue- Jan Breydel Stadium
Club Brugge
Clinton Mata and Krepin Diatta missed out their final Champions League group game but should be made available here. Simon Mignolet should be the choice to keep between the sticks for the hosts. January signing Michael Krmencik could start, while Sofyan Amrabat and Dion Cools were both sold in the recent transfer window.
Manchester United
Scott McTominay and Axel Tuanzebe are edging closer to their first-team returns but neither was named in the squad that travelled to Belgium. Mason Greenwood also has a niggle which makes him unavailable, joining the likes of Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford on the sidelines. Eric Bailly had an impressive outing at the Bridge on his return and could once again accompany Harry Maguire at centre half. Odion Ighalo did get to make his debut in the final few minutes versus Chelsea but should be getting his first start for the club here. Andreas Pereira is expected to return to the starting eleven as well.
BRU (Expected Playing 11)- Mignolet; Deli, Mechele, Mata; Ricca, Vormer, Balanta, Vanaken, Diatta; Kremencik, Dennis
MUN(Expected Playing 11)- Romero; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Williams; Matic, Pereira, Fernandes, Lingard, James; Ighalo
Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis has proved his mettle in the Champions League this season by bagging two goals and an assist from 458 minutes. Dennis also has scored five goals from 19 appearances in the domestic league for Brugge.
Bruno Fernandes has looked sharp in his first two games for Manchester United and already has an assist under his belt. The playmaker also has a pass accuracy of 80% so far.
Krepin Diatta has six goals from 20 appearances in the Belgian League and even bagged himself a goal in the Champions League this season for Club Brugge.
Aaron Wan Bissaka has been one of the key players for Manchester United in defence. The right-back averages 3.9 successful tackles per game and even has two assists while going forward along with a pass accuracy of 80.1% in the Premier League.
Considering that Club Brugge are yet to lose more than one game at home and United‘s four wins on the bounce, a draw seems the likely result.
Goalkeeper- S Romero
Defenders- A Wan-Bissaka, H Maguire, S Deli, F Rica
Midfielders- B Fernandes, A Pereira, K Diatta, H Vanaken
Forwards- O Ighalo, E Dennis
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