FC Rostov vs Man Utd Preview, Team News, Line-Ups, Betting Tips & Predicted Score

Man Utd will be looking to come away with a positive result when they take on FC Rostov in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie this evening [kick off 18.00 GMT].

All the pre-match talk has centered around the state of the Rostov pitch with Jose Mourinho expressing his disbelief that his players are being forced to play on what he describes as a ‘field’.

United head in to the game having lost just one of their last 27 games in all competitions but their hopes of finishing in the top four were dented after being held to a 1-1 draw by Bournemouth last weekend.

The Red Devils eased in to the last-16 of the Europa League thanks to a comfortable 4-0 aggregate win over St-Etienne but I’m expecting things to be a little tougher this time around.

Rostov have lost just once in their last 12 games and have already proven they can beat top sides at home after beating Bayern Munich 3-2 in the group stages of the Champions League in November.

Team News

Wayne Rooney hasn’t travelled to Russia despite being fully fit while Luke Shaw has also been left back in Manchester after making a rare start against Bournemouth at the weekend.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic will start as he’s set to begin a three-match domestic ban after being hit by a violent conduct charge following an incident with Tyrone Mings.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is back in the squad after recovering from injury but Mourinho has hinted he won’t risk the playmaker from the start on the dodgy pitch.

Michael Carrick, Eric Bailly, Antonio Valencia, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata could be given a rest ahead of Monday’s FA Cup clash with Chelsea.

Likely Line-ups

Rostov: Medvedev; Kalachev, Mevlja, Navas, Granat, Kudryashov; Erokhin, Gatcan, Noboa; Bukharov, Poloz

Predicted Score

Rostov 1-1 Man Utd: Obviously the hosts have a huge advantage on their dodgy pitch and I expect this to be a tough game for United. However, they should have enough quality to ensure they take home a positive result so I’m backing a 1-1 draw.

Betting Tips

United are the 4/5 favourites to win but we can get you enhanced odds of 8/1 on the Reds winning – just click here or below to take advantage of these crazy odds [winnings as free bet, T&C’s apply]. Here are some other bets I like the look of:

• Both teams to score at 5/4 – a £10 bet returns £22.50
• Exact score of 1-1 draw at 6/1 – a £10 bet returns £70
• Ibrahimovic to score first in a 1-1 draw at 22/1 – a £10 bet returns  £230