Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a chance to rest his stars and first teamers in the midweek win over LASK Linz. Having won that round of 16 Europa League tie 7-1 on aggregate, the level of difficulty steps up now as they’ll take on FC Copenhagen in the quarterfinals.
This is only the second time a United side has progressed this far in a European tournament since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. The other was Jose Mourinho’s “plastic treble” winning side, which claimed the EFL Cup, Community Shield and the club’s first ever UEL trophy.
Solskjaer is on a mission here to reach the semifinals and eventually win his first piece of silverware at United as a manager. He’ll most likely go with his regulars and stars in this one. Expect the strongest team possible to be named here.
While Sergio Romero has been the cup goalkeeper all along, he will most likely be pushed aside so that David de Gea can represent in between the sticks.
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction vs FC Copenhagen
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Williams; Pogba, Matic; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial
Manchester United vs FC Copenhagen Europa League Quarterfinal FYIs
Kickoff: Aug 10, 8pm, Rhein Energie Stadion, Cologne, Germany
Team news for both sides: go to this link
TV/Stream: BT Sport/BT Sport App
Previous Meetings: 2006-07 UCL Group Stages, United won the tie 3-1 (3-0 home, 0-1 away)
Europa League Form: FC Copenhagen WLDWLW United LWDWWW
Odds: Manchester United (-385), FC Copenhagen (+1000), Draw: (+480)
UEL Outright Winner Odds: Manchester United (+180), FC Copenhagen (+6000)
Prediction: United 3, FC Copenhagen 0
With OGS having had the chance to rest his regulars, they’ll be first team fresh here and that means they should cruise on in to the semifinals.
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 contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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