Match preview : Manchester United vs Saint-Etienne

Manchester United will host Saint-Etienne in the first leg of the round of 32 UEFA Europa League.

Red Devils secured knockout stage of the Europa League by finishing second in Group A (ahead of Feyenoord and Zorya Luhansk), just one point behind Turkish side Fenerbahce.

Manchester United stretched their unbeaten streak to 16 games on Saturday as they beat Watford 2-0 at Old Trafford. They have only one defeat in their last 22 games in all competitions – against Hull in the League Cup Semi-Final.
Jose Mourinho main goal is to secure their place in the UEFA Champions League next season so their race with Manchester City, Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool will probably be their primary concern.

Saint-Etienne topped Europa League Group C with an unbeaten record, proving that they will not go down so easily against United. In a group alongside Anderlecht, Mainz 05 and Gabala they have won 12 points in six games, one more than second placed Anderlecht.

As for Ligue 1, they are currently holding fifth place, one point behind Lyon.

French Ligue 1 maybe don’t have the same reputation as Premier League, but PSG’s victory over Barcelona showed us that there’s quality in Ligue 1.

Head to Head

The only previous time these sides have met in European competition was in the 1977-78 Cup Winners’ Cup first round – Man Utd won 2-0 in the home leg after a 1-1 draw in France.

They’ve never previously met at Old Trafford, with the English leg of the tie being played in Plymouth due to crowd trouble during the first leg.

Match Facts

• This is St Etienne’s first game against English opponents since they faced Ipswich in the 1981 UEFA Cup quarter-final. They’ve lost all three of their away games on English soil (vs Liverpool, Man Utd and Ipswich).
• Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 14 European home games (W11 D3), since a 1-2 defeat against Real Madrid in March 2013.
• The French side are unbeaten in their last 10 games in all European competition (W5 D5). They last had a longer run between 2005 and 2009 (12 games).
• Jose Mourinho has won eight of his 10 home games as manager in the UEFA Cup/Europa League (D1 L1). Indeed, the last time he was in the competition, he won it (2002-03 with Porto).
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored more goals against St Etienne than he has against any other side in his career (14).

Team News

Manchester United could face some major changes in the starting lineup compared to their last game against Watford.

Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford, Michael Carrick, Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones and Luke Shaw are expected to enjoy some time in today’s match.

St. Etienne attacking trio Tannane, Soderlund and Beric could all miss out on Thursday.

Possible lineups

Manchester United: De Gea; Blind, Smalling, Bailly, Valencia; Pogba, Herrera; Rashford, Mkhitaryan, Lingard; Ibrahimovic

Saint-Etienne: Ruffier; Malcuit, Theophile, Perrin, Pogba; Pajot, Veretout; Jorginho, Saivet, Monnet-Paquet; Hamouma.

Sofascore.com