Barcelona will face Manchester United on Thursday night as they welcome them to Camp Nou for the Europa League contest. The Catalan giants will come into the match on the back of a narrow 1-0 victory over Villareal. On the other hand, the Red Devils recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory over Leeds United in their last outing, so we can expect a fierce battle between the two.
Xavi will once again set his team up in a 4-3-3 formation and is expected to keep the changes to a minimum for this contest. Franck Kessie is expected to play from the start under Sergio Busquets’ absence while Robert Lewandowski continues to lead the charge down the middle.
4-3-3 Barcelona Predicted XI Vs Manchester United
Defence
Marc-André ter Stegen will continue to feature in goal for the Catalan club after securing a clean sheet in his last outing. Ronald Araujo will continue to play alongside Andreas Christensen at the centre of Barca’s backline as they look to keep things tidy at the back during the game.
Jules Kounde will operate as the right-back while Jordi Alba hopes to put in a good display on the other flank as the left-back. Both of them will get the freedom to get forward and cause a few problems for the opposition full-backs.
Alejandro Balde and Marcos Alonso will have to settle for a place on the bench as they provide cover for the defensive positions.
Midfield
Pedri, Franck Kessie and Frenkie De Jong will make up Barca’s midfield as they look to dominate the game at the centre of the park and engineer enough chances for the Catalan club to win this contest.
Pedri will act as the primary playmaker for the Spanish giants as he hopes to produce enough goal-scoring opportunities in the final third.
Attack
Gavi will get a chance to impress as a left-sided wide player while Raphinha hopes to give a good account of himself on the right flank.
Robert Lewandowski will once again spearhead Xavi’s attack up top. The Polish striker would be hungry to get his name on the scoresheet when he laces up to face off against the opposition defenders for this contest.
Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati will be named on the bench and might come on in the latter stages of the contest if Barca are in need of a goal by then.
