Manchester United face Real Sociedad on the road in Thursday’s final Europa League group game.
Erik ten Hag’s men have won their last four games in the competition, but they must beat Sociedad on Thursday to finish as the group leaders. They are presently three points adrift of the Spanish club and must win by a margin of two goals to clinch the top position in Group E. Here is how they are expected to line-up against Sociedad tomorrow.
Goalkeeper: David de Gea is an automatic pick for Ten Hag in goal. The 31-year-old has played every minute of the campaign and has stayed injury free. The Spaniard had a superb outing against West Ham last weekend with some crucial saves and will be aiming to carry on the good form.
Defence: Victor Lindelof is back with the Man Utd team after missing the Hammers meeting with an illness. However, he may not be reinstated into the line-up. Harry Maguire turned up with a superb second-half display on Sunday and could keep his place alongside Lisandro Martinez in central defence. Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw are the manager’s number one full-backs and the Dutchman should not gamble with his selection in what is a must-win game for Man Utd.
Midfield: Similar to Dalot and Shaw, Casemiro and Christian Eriksen are the preferred choices in midfield for Ten Hag. Casemiro has started every game since the Manchester derby last month and his presence in today’s press conference pretty much confirms that he will be the holding midfielder tomorrow ahead of Scott McTominay. Eriksen is a must for Manchester United with his creativity.
Attack: There could be a slight reshuffle in attack. Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo are expected to start against the La Liga club. The latter should be well familiar with Sociedad from his trophy-laden career at Real Madrid. On the right wing, Anthony Elanga could be swapped for Alejandro Garnacho, who had a lively full debut last week. Antony and Anthony Martial (individual training) and Jadon Sancho (illness) are unavailable for the game. The trio have not travelled to Spain.
Expected Man Utd line-up against Real Sociedad
