[Gerald G]

Hopefully Antony is fit for this, could do with freshening up the team. I think the midfield especially.

De Gea
Dalot--Lindelof--Martinez--Shaw
Casemiro--Fred
Antony--Bruno--Sancho
Rashford​

I know it seems counterproductive resting Eriksen as we need to win by 2 but I'm just trying to freshen it up. If not, rest Casemiro and start McTominay and still start Eriksen. Ultimately, I'd strongly consider bringing in Fred and/or McTominay to freshen up the midfield. It'd also be nice to have Martial on the bench as he's returned to full training.

 

[Doracle]

This is another hellish stretch of matches up to the WC. I think we have to go near full strength here and try and avoid the extra two matches later in the season but it’s a worry how tired our team looked on Sunday. I think I’d go:

DDG

Dalot
Maguire
Martinez
Malacia

McT
Eriksen
Bruno

Antony
Rashford
Sancho

(Assuming Varane is still out).

 

[AdNani]

You seriously dont see any different on the way we set up and play when Maguire plays and when he doesnt?

yeah, i do, Varane isn't fit, neither is Lindelof and Maguire actually had a decent game on saturday.

If Maguire had a howler again i could understand maybe but he had his best game in a long time and is the only other CB available

 

[SAFMUTD]

yeah, i do, Varane isn't fit, neither is Lindelof and Maguire actually had a decent game on saturday.

If Maguire had a howler again i could understand maybe but he had his best game in a long time and is the only other CB available

Still he doesn't suit the style, playing a high line with a defender who was zero pace will have consequences.

Against west ham he was caught twice out of position due to his lack of pace. It'll be exploited for sure. I agree we dont have anyone else currently, but we need to move on from him and get players that suit the system the manager wants.

 

[prateik]

Unfortunately the ref robbed us of much of a chance to come top. 2-0 away against this side is a really tough ask. I'd like us to play a weaker side as well, priority is beating Aston villa on Sunday. Going out in a two legged tie against Barcelona won't be the worst thing in the world either, as 3rd and 4th are very much for grabs.

It was a shocking decision.. but if we miss out on GD, we have ourselves to blame.. If we had scored 1 more goal, any win here would have been enough..
we spent a game trying to set Ronaldo up like its some fecking charity event instead of trying to score.

 

[AngeloHenriquez]

Do we know the squad yet? Is Antony/ Lindelof back? Is Martial/ VDB available for selection etc?

 

[Kaos]

We were robbed by that shocking penalty decision last time. I'd expect Ten Hag to have everyone fired up for this.

 

[SAF is the GOAT]

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[Telsim]

De Gea
Dalot Lindelof Martinez Shaw
Any combination of: McTominay Fred Eriksen
Sancho VdB Rashford
​

Donny's time as a false 9 has come!

 

[GregM40]

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That’s 4 of the starting XI that we faced at OT.

 

[DJ_21]

Let’s go devils!!! A nice 4-0 will do us. That’s the score we beat them last time at there ground under ole.

 

[DJ_21]

Do we know the squad yet? Is Antony/ Lindelof back? Is Martial/ VDB available for selection etc?

Martial has been training this week, think he might make the bench.

 

[Big Andy]

I can't get my head around people actively saying "rest the first XI and take the playoff game". It's lunacy. Firstly, it's 2 extra games to play on a Thursday later in the season, secondly, high chance of playing the likes of Juve, Barca, etc, thirdly, it's a competition we should be prioritising as it's a secondary route to Champions League, and it's a trophy, which we should be begging for.

Play the first XI from now until the World Cup. People saying that players will be tired after the world cup are forgetting that other than the semi finalists, most of them will be back around the 11th/12th December. Week off to rest up, back into training for the game on the 27th.

 

[always_hoping]

That’s 4 of the starting XI that we faced at OT.

Who's the 4? Silva who's well past his best, full back Munoz and..

 

[Glorio]

The Europa League ain't ready for fit Tony Martial!

 

[red_de_pologne]

The Europa League ain't ready for fit Tony Martial!

Is Tony Martial fit enough to be ready for the Europa League though?

 

[pcaming]

Is Tony Martial fit enough to be ready for the Europa League though?

At this point it would be madness to push him back into the team first thing, considering how well that went a few weeks ago.

 

[GregM40]

Who's the 4? Silva who's well past his best, full back Munoz and..

Sadiq and Kubo. Cho and Barrenetxea both came on also.

 

[Shimo]

I can't get my head around people actively saying "rest the first XI and take the playoff game". It's lunacy. Firstly, it's 2 extra games to play on a Thursday later in the season, secondly, high chance of playing the likes of Juve, Barca, etc, thirdly, it's a competition we should be prioritising as it's a secondary route to Champions League, and it's a trophy, which we should be begging for.

Play the first XI from now until the World Cup. People saying that players will be tired after the world cup are forgetting that other than the semi finalists, most of them will be back around the 11th/12th December. Week off to rest up, back into training for the game on the 27th.

Thankfully ETH is in it to win every game and has been on about importance of finishing first. A winning habit is something we should be craving and against a good side away, we need to play the XI and subs that give us the best chance of winning.

 

[Santoryo]

At this point it would be madness to push him back into the team first thing, considering how well that went a few weeks ago.

What do you mean? He's been training for almost 2 weeks now and ETH said once he joins team training it means he's ready to play. They've taken as much time with him as possible.

 

[Barbara Charles]

I can't get my head around people actively saying "rest the first XI and take the playoff game". It's lunacy. Firstly, it's 2 extra games to play on a Thursday later in the season, secondly, high chance of playing the likes of Juve, Barca, etc, thirdly, it's a competition we should be prioritising as it's a secondary route to Champions League, and it's a trophy, which we should be begging for.

Play the first XI from now until the World Cup. People saying that players will be tired after the world cup are forgetting that other than the semi finalists, most of them will be back around the 11th/12th December. Week off to rest up, back into training for the game on the 27th.

My boy Andy knows of what he speaks.

 

[RedPed]

I can't get my head around people actively saying "rest the first XI and take the playoff game". It's lunacy. Firstly, it's 2 extra games to play on a Thursday later in the season, secondly, high chance of playing the likes of Juve, Barca, etc, thirdly, it's a competition we should be prioritising as it's a secondary route to Champions League, and it's a trophy, which we should be begging for.

Play the first XI from now until the World Cup. People saying that players will be tired after the world cup are forgetting that other than the semi finalists, most of them will be back around the 11th/12th December. Week off to rest up, back into training for the game on the 27th.

Thank feck ten Hag has the right mentality. We'd probably be out by now if Poch was in charge.

 

[NoPace]

[/QUOTE]

Also Bruno missing Villa means Eriksen should play as a 10 there

I can't get my head around people actively saying "rest the first XI and take the playoff game". It's lunacy. Firstly, it's 2 extra games to play on a Thursday later in the season, secondly, high chance of playing the likes of Juve, Barca, etc, thirdly, it's a competition we should be prioritising as it's a secondary route to Champions League, and it's a trophy, which we should be begging for.

Play the first XI from now until the World Cup. People saying that players will be tired after the world cup are forgetting that other than the semi finalists, most of them will be back around the 11th/12th December. Week off to rest up, back into training for the game on the 27th.

Yeah, I can see the argument for massively prioritizing the league since the odds of us finishing in a Champions League place in the league are far higher than us winning the Europa League (gambling odds are clear on this), but the sheer strength of the playoff teams from the CL (Ajax, Leverkusen, Sporting, Barcelona at the minute and probably Juve, Shaktar/Leipzig, Salzburg/Milan and Sevilla) means that the best case scenario is basically a playoff against a Real Sociedad level team, so we might as well gamble, even it means one funky spot or two against Villa like VDB as a #10 to rest Eriksen or Malacia at LB.

We really need to sign a decent RB on January 1st to backup Dalot, even if it's just a weird loan.

 

[PoTMS]

List of opponents in the KO round to avoid gets smaller. Only really Barcelona and Sevilla to fear - both who have had the better of us in recent times.

 

[No Idea For Nickname]

I can't get my head around people actively saying "rest the first XI and take the playoff game". It's lunacy. Firstly, it's 2 extra games to play on a Thursday later in the season, secondly, high chance of playing the likes of Juve, Barca, etc, thirdly, it's a competition we should be prioritising as it's a secondary route to Champions League, and it's a trophy, which we should be begging for.

Play the first XI from now until the World Cup. People saying that players will be tired after the world cup are forgetting that other than the semi finalists, most of them will be back around the 11th/12th December. Week off to rest up, back into training for the game on the 27th.

Agree. Would like to add that we have 2 postponed games to play after WC, maybe it can be played in that time slot, instead playing Barca, Ajax...

 

[sepulturite]

I can't get my head around people actively saying "rest the first XI and take the playoff game". It's lunacy. Firstly, it's 2 extra games to play on a Thursday later in the season, secondly, high chance of playing the likes of Juve, Barca, etc, thirdly, it's a competition we should be prioritising as it's a secondary route to Champions League, and it's a trophy, which we should be begging for.

Play the first XI from now until the World Cup. People saying that players will be tired after the world cup are forgetting that other than the semi finalists, most of them will be back around the 11th/12th December. Week off to rest up, back into training for the game on the 27th.

I have a feeling that alot of them don't realise that it's an extra 2 games and that it's just that we might face champions league drop outs in the draw, and not that we definitely would. Because otherwise I can't understand why anyone would be ok with 2 extra games is this jam packed season.

 

[Lemon Moon]

Erik will go full strength.

 

[Robbo*]

I have a feeling that alot of them don't realise that it's an extra 2 games and that it's just that we might face champions league drop outs in the draw, and not that we definitely would. Because otherwise I can't understand why anyone would be ok with 2 extra games is this jam packed season.

i thought the next round was the 8 2nd place sides against the 8 CL teams?

 

[GregM40]

De Gea
Dalot Lindelof Martinez Malacia
Casemiro Fred
Bruno
Antony Ronaldo Rashford

Subs: Martial, McTominay, Eriksen

United 2-0 (hopefully)

 

[nainaisson]

The Europa League ain't ready for fit Tony Martial!

It will be a glorious 20 minutes, before he gets injured again and disappears for another two months.

 

[Adam-Utd]

I can't get my head around people actively saying "rest the first XI and take the playoff game". It's lunacy. Firstly, it's 2 extra games to play on a Thursday later in the season, secondly, high chance of playing the likes of Juve, Barca, etc, thirdly, it's a competition we should be prioritising as it's a secondary route to Champions League, and it's a trophy, which we should be begging for.

Play the first XI from now until the World Cup. People saying that players will be tired after the world cup are forgetting that other than the semi finalists, most of them will be back around the 11th/12th December. Week off to rest up, back into training for the game on the 27th.

The players looked knackered against West Ham. It's a dangerous game to keep playing the same team Thursday/Sunday and expect performances to keep high. We made the same mistake under Ole and when it came to the end of the season we were like the walking dead. We can use 5 subs in the Europa so I hope we do make the most of them. Villa on the weekend will be fresh and wanting to turn their season around.

There is nothing wrong with some rotation, just not 5 players at once. I'd personally give Shaw a rest as he's prone to muscle injuries when being over worked.

 

[Ayoba]

What happens if we finish 2nd? Do we automatically qualify for the KO's but face a team that finished 3rd in the cl?

 

[vangagal]

What happens if we finish 2nd? Do we automatically qualify for the KO's but face a team that finished 3rd in the cl?

Finish 1st, we go straight to KO round of 16
Finish 2nd, we go to play off KO round first, facing 3rd place of UCL, meaning another 2 matches which we dont need.

 

[DanNistelrooy]

Sorry if I've missed this but having just had a quick scan of the rules - I believe we need to win by 2 clear goals - is that correct? I wanted to know if a 2-1 win would be enough to take us through on Head to Head (via away goals), but sounds like it's been abolished reading the bottom line.

Big ask to win by 2 but I fancy us to do it. 3-0 United.

1. Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Away goals scored in all group matches;
8. Wins in all group matches;
9. Away wins in all group matches;
10. Disciplinary points (direct red card = 3 points; double yellow card = 3 points; single yellow card = 1 point);
11. UEFA club coefficient.
    
    Due to the abolition of the away goals rule, head-to-head away goals are no longer applied as a tiebreaker starting from last season. However, total away goals are still applied as a tiebreaker.[4]
    

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

If important players like D.Silva, Kubo, Oyarzabal and Sadiq are not playing, then it means they will sit deep and will not go toe to toe with us, we must pin them down and finish whatever chances we get.

 

[Ayoba]

Finish 1st, we go straight to KO round of 16
Finish 2nd, we go to play off KO round first, facing 3rd place of UCL, meaning another 2 matches which we dont need.

FFs, thats not ideal!

 

[hellhunter]

Sorry if I've missed this but having just had a quick scan of the rules - I believe we need to win by 2 clear goals - is that correct? I wanted to know if a 2-1 win would be enough to take us through on Head to Head (via away goals), but sounds like it's been abolished reading the bottom line.

Big ask to win by 2 but I fancy us to do it. 3-0 United.

1. Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Away goals scored in all group matches;
8. Wins in all group matches;
9. Away wins in all group matches;
10. Disciplinary points (direct red card = 3 points; double yellow card = 3 points; single yellow card = 1 point);
11. UEFA club coefficient.
    
    Due to the abolition of the away goals rule, head-to-head away goals are no longer applied as a tiebreaker starting from last season. However, total away goals are still applied as a tiebreaker.[4]

It is, for exactly the reasons you mentioned

 

[Borys]

I have a strong feeling we will draw one of the coming two games. We look tired and it will only get worse, especially that we will be pushing for a 2+ goals advantage vs the best team in our EL group, and a Spanish one as well.

Real Sociedad are actually our equivalent in Primera Division.

 

[JuriM]

Getting Martial back and now losing both Sancho & Antony? What is this wizardry..

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[crossy1686]

That’s 4 of the starting XI that we faced at OT.

Which means they'll certainly get a result against us