Manchester United are ready for their Europa League round of 32 second leg match against Real Sociedad and it should be an easy one. After a 4-0 thrashing of the Spanish side in Turin last Thursday, it will be up to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his players to just finish things off and spend the least possible amount of energy ahead of some bigger clashes coming up, especially those in the Premier League.
Here is what you need to know ahead of the return leg at Old Trafford.
Team News
Manchester United are expected to heavily change their team and rely on players with less playing time this season. What is certain is that Paul Pogba and Phil Jones will not feature due to their injuries, while it remains to be seen what will happen with the trio of Scott McTominay, Donny van de Beek and Edinson Cavani. They are having issues with various injuries and are getting closer to returning to full fitness. It might be wise to expect Solskjaer to not use any of those players and reduce the risk of making things worse, which should mean we will see Dean Henderson in goal as usual in these matches, with Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata probably to feature in midfield.
As far as Real Sociedad are concerned, Robin Le Normand will not play due to the accumulated yellow cards in this competition, while it remains to be seen what will happen with Joseba Zaldua. He got a hamstring injury during the match against United. We might see Adnan Januzaj start at Old Trafford against his former team, too.
Form Guide
Manchester United have finally made a string of good results. After six matches of winning and getting mostly disappointing draws one after the other, the Devils have now managed to make two wins in a row. After the comfortable 4-0 win in the first leg, they defeated Newcastle United 3-1. It was not an ideal performance and the Devils relied too much upon individual performances rather than the whole team, it was still necessary to get the team back in the second place in the Premier League standings. United will not want to risk too much against the Spanish side this time either, because on Sunday they will face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Just seven days after that, the Devils will go across town to meet Manchester City in yet another Manchester Derby.
Real Sociedad have finally sterted firing in La Liga once again. After a really long run of matches without winning, they are now at three consecutive wins in their domestic competition. After beating Cadiz 4-1 at home and Getafe 1-0 away, they once more scored four goals in San Sebastian. Deportivo Alaves were demolished 4-0 just three days after Real Sociedad had lost with the same scoreline to Man United. Considering Real Sociedad will just four days after this game at Old Trafford play against Real Madrid in the Spanish capital, it will be interesting to see what kind of amount of energy will they be ready to spend in Manchester.
Predicted Outcome
Manchester United will win this one, too. Considering they are a clearly better side and that Real Sociedad will not be motivated to push all that hard, this could be an easy, low-scoring win for United which could bread new confidence into some fringe players that are expected to start.
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