Atletico Madrid vs Man Utd preview, team news, prediction

Manchester United will face Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie tonight.

The Red Devils head into the game off the back of two important Premier League victories. A 2-0 win over Brighton last week was followed by a hard-fought 4-2 win at Leeds United on Sunday.

Those results have left Man Utd sitting four points clear in fourth place in the table so Ralf Rangnick’s men are currently in pole position to finish in the top four this season. Although it’s worth noting the chasing pack have games in hand so the race for Champions League football is expected to go right to the wire.

United are still in this years competition and they’ll be looking to bring a positive result back from Spain. Atletico have been plagued by inconsistent form recently so this is a good opportunity for Man Utd to secure a lead ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford.

Team news

Man Utd will be without the services of Edinson Cavani tonight. The Uruguayan international has been plagued by a niggling groin injury in recent weeks and hasn’t been able to train in the lead-up to this game.

 

Goalkeeper Tom Heaton is also still ruled out due to a groin injury while Mason Greenwood remains unavailable for selection.

Rangnick could freshen things up following Sunday’s win over Leeds. The likes of Marcus Rashford, Fred, Raphael Varane, Diogo Dalot and Anthony Elanga are all pushing for recalls.

As for Atletico, they’ll be without Yannick Carrasco and Felipe due to suspension while Daniel Wass and Matheus Cunha are out with knee injuries.

Thomas Lemar could also miss out due to covid but Antoine Griezmann is back to full fitness from a muscle issue.

Expected line-ups

Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Vrsaljko, Gimenez, Savic, Reinildo; Llorente, Herrera, Kondogbia, Correa; Felix, Suarez

Manchester United: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Pogba; Elanga, Fernandes, Sancho; Ronaldo

Predicted score

Atletico Madrid 1-1 Man Utd: United have been grinding results out lately and will look to make things difficult for Atletico this evening. Diego Simeone’s men have stuttered this campaign and don’t look like the champions they were last season.

This is a good opportunity for Man Utd to take control of the tie and we tip them to take a 1-1 draw back to Old Trafford for the second leg.