Old Trafford is the venue as Manchester United and Omonia Nicosia go head-to-head in contrasting Europa League circumstances.
Inspired by Marcus Rashford’s second-half double, United came from a 1-0 half-time deficit to win 3-2 in Cyprus last week and move a step closer to reaching the UEFA knock-outs for the third season running.
Since an underwhelming 1-0 home loss to Real Sociedad in their curtain-raising Group E fixture, the Red Devils have won back-to-back Europa League matches to seize the runner-up spot.
With third-placed Sheriff Tiraspol three points adrift and heading to San Sebastian to take on section-leaders Sociedad, Man Utd’s victory over Omonia could seal the deal for Erik ten Hag’s lads.
Cristiano Ronaldo may have had an incredible miss by his standards at Omonia last week, but he came from the bench to hand his team a precious 2-1 Premier League triumph at Everton on Sunday.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner should return to the starting line-up for the Cypriot Cup winners’ visit after Anthony Martial picked up another injury at Goodison Park.
Ronaldo’s likely involvement from the first minute is not what the visitors want to hear as they travel to Old Trafford in search of the first points in Group E after three consecutive defeats.
In only their second-ever Europa League group stage appearance, Neil Lennon’s men have lived up to their status as whipping boys, conceding at least twice in all three outings thus far.
Match Preview
Manchester United
Man Utd’s eye-catching run of seven wins from their last nine matches (L2) suggests they are heading in the right direction following ten Hag’s poor managerial start at Old Trafford.
Since finishing second in the group would mean a play-off against a team dropping out of the Champions League will be required to reach the knock-out phase, United should be out to solidify their top-spot bid.
After suffering just one defeat across their last 20 home fixtures in the Europa League proper (W15, D4), the Red Devils should be confident about maintaining English sides’ unbeaten European record against their Cypriot counterparts (W6, D2).
Omonia Nicosia
Despite qualifying for the Europa League group stage for the second time in three years, Omonia’s recent record in the UEFA competition proper cannot inspire much hope in the visiting camp.
The Queen are winless in their last 17 away games in major European competitions (D3, L14) and have managed just two victories in 36 in total on their continental travels.
Unlikely to touch down in Manchester full of confidence, Lennon’s lads have lost six times across their last nine competitive outings (W3), meaning their attempt to win an away match in European football is far-fetched (D3, L4).
Manchester United vs Omonia Nicosia Potential Line-ups
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): David de Gea; Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw; Scott McTominay, Christian Eriksen; Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Cristiano Ronaldo.
Omonia Nicosia (3-4-3): Constantinos Panagi; Nemanja Miletic, Adam Lang, Hector Yuste; Adam Matthews, Charalambos Charalampous, Mix Diskerud, Jan Lecjaks; Loizos Loizou, Karim Ansarifard, Bruno.
How to Watch?
Man Utd vs Omonia, alongside all other Red Devils’ competitive fixtures this season, is available to watch online via Manchester United live streams.
Manchester United vs Omonia Nicosia Preview
It’s hard to see anything other than Man Utd’s clear-cut victory here, as there’s a substantial gulf in class between the sides.
We expect ten Hag’s men to bag a few goals and potentially keep a rare clean sheet.
Manchester United 3-0 Omonia Nicosia
