Just 3 days after a frustrating draw at home against Crystal Palace, Manchester United are again back in action. This time, they will be hosting Young Boys in a midweek Champions League action. And more importantly, it is going to be a big night for United as a win here will take them to the last 16 of the Champions League given that Juventus defeats Valencia. Else, United should wait for the last game of the group stage.
United had a great month before the International break and the most notable was the win at Turin. Everyone expected another exciting month but it all failed as United was held by Palace at home. This was such a bad performance by United that there was nothing positive to be noted for but only a clean-sheet. Cleansheet had been hard for United this season.
Moving onto the Champions League, this is the third and final group stage game at home for United. It should be noted that they are yet to score at home. They played a 0-0 draw at home against Valencia followed by 1-0 loss against Juventus. In both games, they didn't look convincing to score any goal. But against Young Boys in their first Champions League matches, United defeated Young Boys by 3-0. The French duo got all three goals, a brace for Pogba and season opener for Martial. Thus, this time against Young Boys will be the best chance for United to score the first goal in front of the home fans.
For United, we might see some big change, the first one being Lindelof. Lindelof is out injured against Crystal Palace and would be replaced by Baily or Jones. Lindelof had been one of the best players for United recently. Coming to the front line, it was one of the worse performance by United against Palace especially Lukaku who hasn't scored for 2.5 months now. We might see Rashford or Sanchez taking his spot.
Young Boys mathematically still has a chance to progress to the next round but it is impossible. They are bottom with just one point after playing a draw with Valencia. They just scored 2 goals so far and conceded 10 goals. Also, dropping the single point here means they will go out of the Champions League. But we must not forget, Young Boys has the best attacking return in the home league, and United has the worse record defensively in the league. Any mistake by United, Young Boys will certainly punish United. And, missing Lindelof is certain to cause some problem in the back line.
To conclude, this should be one of the easiest game for United against a team who they defeated by 3-0 away from home. United should easily win this one but United hadn't been consistent this season, and Young Boys shouldn't be underestimated. With a win, United will reach to last 16 for the second time in last 3 season. United has never progressed beyond last 16 after the Ferguson era.
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