Michael Carrick says that reaching the UEFA Champions League knockout round should be expected, not a pleasant surprise at Manchester United. Carrick knows very well the glory days of the club, in which going to the knockout stages was routine. From 1996-97 to 2013-14, United reached the knockout stages every single season but one (2005-06).
United restart their European campaign tomorrow night with the away leg of their round of 16 tie against Sevilla. This is the first time the Red Devils have been back in the knockout round since 2014, and despite their recent absence, Ashley Young says the club is in it to win it, and they feel very confident of their chances.
This will be the first time Alexis Sanchez will feature in Champions League in a United shirt, as Arsenal didn’t qualify for the tournament this time. So Old Trafford has that going for them, which is nice.
That all said, let’s look at who United manager Jose Mourinho might include in his first team, as his side hope to rack up the away goals Wednesday night in Spain.
Romelu Lukaku
Alexis Sanchez Jesse Lingard Juan Mata
Paul Pogba Nemanja Matic
Ashley Young Eric Bailly Chris Smalling Antonio Valencia
David de Gea
Odds: United 29/20, Draw 23/10, Sevilla 11/5
United-Sevilla Injury Report: go to this link
Jose Mourinho News Conference: coming soon
Prediction: United 2, Sevilla 1
As always, feel free to post your own United and/or Sevilla starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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