Manchester United host Kazakhstan side (get your Borat jokes ready) Astana on Thursday night as they kick-off their 2019-20 European campaign. UEFA Europa League means squad rotation, as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has implied that he might use the Euro consolation as a chance to provide experience to his young, promising players.
Anthony Martial, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Dan James and Harry Maguire will almost all certainly be rested while newly minted goalkeeper David de Gea will celebrate his new contract extension with some rest and relaxation. It also means that Mason Greenwood, Angel Gomes, Tahith Chong and James Garner (not the film actor who was huge in the 1980s) could come into the first team.
Elder statesman midfielder Juan Mata believes the kids are alright and ready to rock in this one.
“I very much like them,” the Spaniard said. “I could speak about every one of them. Gomes — very talented. You can see he’s a real football player: vision, decision-making, quick on his feet.”
“Chong is a proper winger. Very quick one-against-one, a very nice left foot and a great shot. Jimmy Garner I like very much. Composure, personality on the ball, good shot, good decision-making. He touches the ball just the times he needs to.”
“As a midfielder that’s important — not just to retain the ball a lot, but to make it move quicker, and he does it so much. Mason is a very good finisher, both legs. You can’t really tell if he’s right-footed or left-footed, which is a very good quality for a striker.
“All of them have been training with us for a long time and they developed a lot in preseason.”
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction versus Astana (UEL)
Mason Greenwood
Patrick Chong Angel Gomes Jesse Lingard
Fred Nemanja Matic
Marcos Rojo Phil Jones Axel Tuanzebe Ashley Young
Sergio Romero
Manchester United vs Astana UEFA Europa League FYIs
Kickoff: Old Trafford, Thursday Sept 19, 8pm
Odds via Bwin: United win 1/5, Draw 11/2, Astana win 29/2
Prediction: United 4, Astana 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.
