Manchester United head to Valencia for their final UEFA Champions League group stage clash having already booked their passage to the knockout round. Juventus are also going through, but United could topple them as group winner if the Serie A juggernaut fails to beat Young Boys, and United emerge triumphant in Spain.
It’s a long shot sure, but it could still happen, provided the Red Devils can overcome a situation that could be branded an “injury crisis” at the back. Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling are all definitely out of commission for this match and Eric Bailly is doubtful due to a muscle problem.
That would leave United manager Jose Mourinho with just two legitimate central defenders, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones, available for selection.
It’s a selection headache that Mourinho has already encountered on occasion this season, and he’s handled it by placing midfielders such as Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay in the back line. United also have some fitness issues up front to deal with for this fixture.
Anthony Martial is a doubt, due to a hamstring issue, while Alexis Sanchez is a long term absentee because of a much more severe problem with that same part of the body. That said, let’s take a look at the rest of the basic requisite information for this midweek match.
Valencia vs Manchester United FYIs
Kick-off: 8pm (BST), Wednesday December 11th, Mestalla
Google Result Probability: Valencia Win 38%, Draw 29%, Manchester United Win 33%
Odds via Betfair: United win 2/1, draw 12/5, Valencia win 15/2
United Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Prediction: United 1, Valencia 1
Feel free to post your own 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, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.