UEFA Europa League

FC Rostov vs Manchester United: Match preview and prediction

Manchester United visit FC Rostov in the Europa League Round of 16 first-leg match on Thursday continuing their hunt for the only major European trophy that still eludes them.

By admin

Rostov returned from a three-month winter break in Russian football to hammer bottom side Tom Tomsk 6-0 away from home at the weekend. Having finished second in the Russian League last season to seal Champions League football, they are currently seventh in the table despite their impressive home form.

FC Rostov are unbeaten at home in the Russian Premier League in nine games this season. Their stadium, with a capacity of 15,840, has proven a tough place to visit with only Atletico Madrid recording a win there this term – 1-0 in October.

Rostov were initially in the Champions League after beating Anderlecht and Ajax 4-2 and 5-2 on aggregate in the qualifiers. They faced a tough ask to progress from a group containing Bayern Munich, Atletico and PSV Eindhoven, but held their own and finished third – above PSV – to qualify for the Europa League, securing an impressive 3-2 victory over German champions Bayern in Russia along the way. Most recently, they defeated Sparta Prague 5-1 over two legs in the Round of 32, after comfortably winning 4-0 in the first leg at home, to set up a clash with Manchester United.

Mourinho’s men breezed through the Europa League Round of 32 with a fine 4-0 aggregate win over Saint-Etienne. They won both legs of the tie, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring his first hat-trick for the club in a 3-0 home triumph and Henrikh Mkhitaryan netting the only goal at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard to wrap up the tie.

Inconsistent Premier League form remains a source of much frustration for United who once again missed the chance to move out of sixth place when they were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Bournemouth in an incident-packed match at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The gap to the Champions League places is still only three points, and United boast a game in hand over fourth-placed Liverpool, but having seen his side continually throw away chances to put themselves in the driving seat, Mourinho may now be looking at winning the Europa League as an alternative route into Europe’s premier club competition.

Considering the travel, the pitch and the fact that they have the luxury of a second leg at home, Mourinho may consider a draw a decent result on Thursday, though, particularly if he chooses to rest some key players with Monday night’s FA Cup trip to Chelsea in mind.

Head to Head

The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition, and it is also the first time Rostov have played an English club.

Manchester United have faced four other Russian sides since 1992, most recently CSKA Moscow in the Champions League group stage last season. United came out on top at Old Trafford, winning 1-0, after being held to a 1-1 draw in Moscow. They are also unbeaten in four games away to Russian sides – albeit a goalless draw against Torpedo Moscow in 1992 preceded a penalty shoot-out defeat in the UEFA Cup first round. Man Utd have only lost once to a Russian side over 90 minutes, going down 2-1 to Zenit St Petersburg in the 2008 Super Cup in Monaco.

Form guide

Match Facts

  • Since the start of 2015-16, Russian clubs have faced English teams six times in European competition and have not won any of those matches (W0 D2 L4).
  • Rostov are playing in the knockout stages of a major European competition for the first time in their history.
  • Rostov have lost only three of their last 13 games in European competition (inc. qualifiers W4 D6).
  • Rostov are unbeaten in four games in Europe, their best ever such run (exc. qualifiers).
  • Dmitri Poloz has been involved in seven of Rostov’s last 11 goals in European competitions (5 goals, 2 assists).
  • In the last round Rostov recorded their biggest ever European win, beating Sparta Prague 4-0 in the 1st leg of their tie.
  • Jose Mourinho’s side are unbeaten in their last 15 European matches played at home (inc qualifiers, W12 D3).

Team News

Rostov

Rostov have a near full-strength squad to choose from, although goalkeeper Soslan Dzhanaev is set to miss out through injury.

Manchester United

Eric Bailly will be unavailable as the defender will serve a one-match European ban after being sent off against Saint-Etienne in the previous round but Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be involved after being named in a 20-man squad travelling to Russia.

Captain Wayne Rooney and full-back Luke Shaw are unavalable for this match, while David de Gea is expected to sit out in favour of Sergio Romero.

Paul Pogba could make his 50th European appearance, a tally reached for both Juventus and United.

Predicted line-ups

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

Manchester United: Romero; Valencia, Rojo, Smalling, Blind; Herrera, Carrick, Pogba; Lingard, Ibrahimovic, Rashford

Thursday 09 March 2017 / Olimp-2, Rostov-on-Don/ 19:00CET