[Treble]

Won't be easy. That's a big game for them, for us it's just another game.

 

[Havak]

Hopefully it will be this.

Yeah, can't see much else. Mata is the only one who may not start, but his possible replacements are more likely to play at the weekend instead (Lingard, Rashford, Fellaini, Young etc).

If we take a clean sheet and a victory to France, I'm sure we'll go through. Probably a lacklustre draw in the away leg.

 

[top1whoisman]

Yeah, can't see much else. Mata is the only one who may not start, but his possible replacements are more likely to play at the weekend instead (Lingard, Rashford, Fellaini, Young etc).

If we take a clean sheet and a victory to France, I'm sure we'll go through. Probably a lacklustre draw in the away leg.

I think the only other option is that Fellaini plays instead of Mata/Micki and we go back to a midfield three. Don’t think it’ll happen today or on Sunday though.

 

[The Brown Bull]

I can remember our Cup Winners Cup games with them back in 77!
They were a serious outfit back then.

 

[CG1010]

Is Liverpool's trophy cabinet in Manchester?

So unnecessary!

 

[dannyrhinos89]

Looking forward to this hopefully we do the business in this leg and can chill in the next one

 

[Adam-Utd]

After watching the CL this week I can't wait for us to get back into action. Hope we do the business.

 

[Ramshock]

Shaw next to DDG at 2:34. If you meant the English coach that leading the session in that same instance in the video then he has been here for awhile since LVG's days. He is something to do with warm up and injury preventing.

Cheers..he looks chunky as feck..im.guessing his fitness continues to be a concern

 

[Ramshock]

I can remember our Cup Winners Cup games with them back in 77!
They were a serious outfit back then.

Why did we have to play our home game at Plymouth?

 

[top1whoisman]

Basti apparently arrived at The Lowry, Shaw didn't.

 

[top1whoisman]

Confirmed United squad members spotted at Lowry

David de Gea
Sergio Romero
Kieran O'Hara
Antonio Valencia
Matteo Darmian
Chris Smalling
Eric Bailly
Marcos Rojo
Paul Pogba
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Marouane Fellaini
Ander Herrera
Ashley Young
Jesse Lingard
Juan Mata
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Marcus Rashford
Anthony Martial

So that's 18 minus O'Hara who won't be on the bench. Blind & Micki will be there as well, so one more name drops from the list. Darmian, Basti or Young, I guess.

 

[dichinero]

Is Liverpool's trophy cabinet in Manchester?

It's in Warren Joyce's house

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Why did we have to play our home game at Plymouth?

Hooliganism. We were initially booted out of the competition by UEFA after some significant crowd trouble in the first leg. Since these kinds of situations where a phenomenon of great magnitude on the island back then, UEFA were waiting with the finger on the trigger to punish the English clubs. We appealed and St. Etienne should be given credit for stating that they didn't want to win the tie in the court room despite having the disadvantage of the 1-1 in France. In the end we paid a fine and we were forced to play the return leg 200km away from Old Trafford. London was out of the question, since there were many United fans of all kinds there, and we ended up at Plymouth.

 

[peridigm]

No Wayne?

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Same linup as we had vs. Watford and we'll win this by 2 goals.

 

[Sassy Colin]

No Wayne?

Jose said he had a minor injury/niggle, better to say that than to say he's too shit to be in the squad?

I expect him to start in the FA Cup game though.

 

[peridigm]

Same linup as we had vs. Watford and we'll win this by 2 goals.

That's my prediction as well.

 

[Ramshock]

Hooliganism. We were initially booted out of the competition by UEFA after some significant crowd trouble in the first leg. Since these kinds of situations where a phenomenon of great magnitude on the island back then, UEFA were waiting with the finger on the trigger to punish the English clubs. We appealed and St. Etienne should be given credit for stating that they didn't want to win the tie in the court room despite having the disadvantage of the 1-1 in France. In the end we paid a fine and we were forced to play the return leg 200km away from Old Trafford. London was out of the question, since there were many United fans of all kinds there, and we ended up at Plymouth.

Ffs..and fair dues to St.Etienne

 

[top1whoisman]

Jose said he had a minor injury/niggle, better to say that than to say he's too shit to be in the squad?

I expect him to start in the FA Cup game though.

Expect him to start as well, but to be fair they (him and Carrick) didn't even train yesterday.

 

[Fracture90]

DDG
Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Blind
Herrera, Pogba
Mata, Miki, Martial
Ibrahimovic

3:0 UTD

You heard it here first folks.

 

[Godfather]

Jose said he had a minor injury/niggle, better to say that than to say he's too shit to be in the squad?

I expect him to start in the FA Cup game though.

Wouldn't mind that. We really should use the FA Cup for our 2nd and 3rd choices only this season.

 

[GifLord]

Thank god Beric's injured dont want another Slovene to score against us

 

[Damien]

I've gone with the same line-up against Watford (although I'm not convinced Martial will start) with Rashford, Rojo and Fellaini to come off the bench.

Also it's really great to be seeing us playing so much this year, it may be taxing on the players but at the fans it's always good to see United play!

Yeah, I've got a feeling Rashford will start.

 

[VP89]

DDG

Valencia Rojo Bailly Blind

Fellaini Carrick Pogba

Lingard Zlatan Rashford

 

[AltiUn]

Yeah, I've got a feeling Rashford will start.

If he doesn't start today then he's a cert for FA cup. Big opportunity if he does get the call up.

 

[top1whoisman]

Thank god Beric's injured dont want another Slovene to score against us

Is he confirmed to be out? He travelled.

 

[GifLord]

Is he confirmed to be out? He

For real? Thought he was still injured since he didn't make the bench during the weekend vs Lorient

edit: just seen the pics of training at old trafford so he could play tonight ffs

 

[unitedforeveral]

Guys Guys Jose is the perfect league manager. He loves to win the league, it is his priority and since we lost a little ground due to a few draws, he's trying to gather momentum with these cups. Next season is going to be ours! (Listen up Scousers) NOT yours but ours!

He will win at least 2 trophies this year and i highly doubt Europa to be one of them. If we do manage to win Europa, we will be ready for a treble next season! with or without CL

 

[top1whoisman]

For real? Thought he was still injured since he didn't make the bench during the weekend vs Lorient

edit: just seen the pics of training at old trafford so he could play tonight ffs

Is he good..?

 

[unitedforeveral]

Our lineup is good and i hope we play Martial. Not because i am a fan or anything but because i think he deserves it. He did well against Watford and should get one more chance as a mark of appreciation. If you drop him now, there is no coming back from this. Either talk to him and get your priorities right or play him while he's good and in-form. I do know that Jose dropped because of his awful performances. LVG gave his too much freedom and he netted as many goals as he did in the last season because he was under no pressure but Jose will push him to the limit. Jose has his ways and that's necessary for success. The will to win should persist over a long time and not just a few games or even one or two.

I hope our 3Ms get their act together as usual and Zlatan puts his chances away. Let's get a lead and bask in the glory! #ggmu

 

[GifLord]

Is he good..?

decent at best

 

[Dumbstar]

Come on Utd, win 1-0 tonight. Like Jose said, let's make your fixtures very, very, very difficult.

 

[Ecstatic]

Europa League PREVIEW | Manchester United vs St Étienne
Two giants of English and French football face off this Thursday in the Europa League, with both looking to add the European trophy into their already illustrious trophy cabinets. Both Manchester United and St. Étienne will know that progression to the next stage of the Europa League will not come easily, but this will be a good test for each side to give a slight indication as to how far they can go.

St. Étienne have been in a recent run of good form, losing only once in Ligue 1 in seven games, with the loss coming away to high-flying Nice a few weeks ago. Their run of positive results saw them shoot up from as low as 9th to 5th; one point behind their arch-rivals Lyon, who currently occupy the Europa League spot. However Les Verts were in danger of missing out on Europe all together prior to the winter break, only picking up two wins in November through to December, so the progress they’ve made is excellent.

Christophe Galtier’s side travel to Old Trafford with the hosts in an unbeaten run of 16 Premier League games, with their last loss coming to leaders Chelsea all the way back in October. Despite the unbeaten run, the Red Devils have not moved from 6th place since November when they defeated a struggling Swansea City side. It might have seemed that an unbeaten period of 16 games is enough to put United back into the Premier League title race, but seven draws in that period means the former Champions’ League winners must stay content with a top four push.

Team news & tactics:

With no outstanding injury concerns, José Mourinho is expected to name the same side that defeated Watford 2-0 at the weekend and easily defeated champions Leicester City the week before by the same score line. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to line up once again as the lone striker against a St. Étienne side who he has an amazing record against. In his career, Ibrahimovic has scored 14 goals against Les Verts in 13 games, his favourite opposition in all competitions.

The three behind him in Anthony Martial, Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan will provide goal scoring support to the big Swede whilst Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba will anchor the midfield, with the latter set to come up against his brother Florentin, who’s set to start at left back for the visitors.

The Ligue 1 side could match United’s 4-2-3-1 formation or could stick with the 4-3-3, which saw them defeat Lorient 4-0 this past weekend. Robert Beric has been included in the match-day squad but isn’t expected to start, with Nolan Roux set to be the central striker with Romain Hamouma and Kevin Monnet-Paquet supporting Roux on the wings. It seems to be that ASSE will switch formation on and off the ball with it being 4-3-3 in attack and more defensive minded 4-2-3-1 when United have possession.

Danger Men:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United)

The former PSG has an impressive goal scoring record against St. Étienne (as mentioned above) and will be looking to extend his already incredible record this Thursday. With suitable service from those playing behind him, Ibrahimovic could be the difference.

Romain Hamouma (St. Étienne)

The forward has been in good form as of late picking up two goals and two assists in his last four Ligue 1 games, including one in the derby against Lyon. Whether it be on the right wing or as a centre forward, Hamouma could be vital on the counter attack and may prove to be a huge threat for Les Verts.

Prediction:

With both teams in good form, the hosts should have enough firepower to defeat St. Étienne, but as the Premier League season has shown us, if you set up in a certain way you could come away from Old Trafford with a draw.

A draw for Les Verts will be extremely happy with a draw this Thursday, and a score draw would be better, but unfortunately I can’t see them coming out of this with a positive result.

Score Prediction:

Manchester United 2-0 St. Étienne

T.S.

 

[Attila]

Come on Utd, win 1-0 tonight. Like Jose said, let's make your fixtures very, very, very difficult.

I also hope we win

 

[SwansonsTache]

Come on Utd, win 1-0 tonight. Like Jose said, let's make your fixtures very, very, very difficult.

Can a win be a loss?

Or in your case, can a loss be a win?

 

[pauldyson1uk]

Why did we have to play our home game at Plymouth?

Crowd trouble, we had a nasty set of fans in the 70's.
We did get kicked out at one stage but we got reinstated on appeal , with the provision we had to play the home leg 200miles away from OT and Plymouth was the choice.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ited-st-etienne-plymouth-riot-cup-winners-cup

 

[Ramshock]

Crowd trouble, we had a nasty set of fans in the 70's.
We did get kicked out at one stage but we got reinstated on appeal , with the provision we had to play the home leg 200miles away from OT and Plymouth was the choice.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ited-st-etienne-plymouth-riot-cup-winners-cup

a different time

 

[pauldyson1uk]

a different time

Yes it was , football fans in the 70's were nasty and violent, not the first time United had been barred from playing at OT, this is something I had forgotten about , was not a good time for United or football.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2010/mar/17/manchester-united-home-anfield-1971

 

[Loublaze]

Won't be easy. That's a big game for them, for us it's just another game.

Their manager who's a close friend to and grew up with Cantona said its not a priority for them. They are unbeaten so far in the tournament so I doubt that. Its a big game for both clubs make no mistake about it.

 

[villain]

Same team please, no messing about.