Manchester United have strengthened their position in the Premier League after their dominating 3-0 win over struggling Sunderland. Jose Mourinho will now try to uplift his team’s morale further when they will travel to Brussels to face Anderlecht in the quarter finals of the Europa League.
With top four looking seemingly difficult, Mourinho has to use this alternative path to book a place in next season’s Champions League and the task is not as hard as it seems. United have a pretty solid squad with the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Anthony Martial, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford and have the quality in their ranks to get a positive result in this match. Scoring an away goal would be important as Anderlecht will be trying to attack with full force at their Constant Vanden Stock Stadium.
Anderlecht have a talented bunch of young players and among them, Youri Tielemans is the stand out player. The 19-year-old has been linked with a number of clubs and is one of the most sought after players in Europe right now. Manchester United haven’t won this tournament so far and Mourinho would definitely want to add another feather to his cap.
Team News and Predicted Lineups
Manchester United
Antonio Valencia didn’t feature in the last match but is expected to recover to make himself available for this match. Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Ashley Young haven’t travelled with the team. Luke Shaw might make his second start on a trot as Mourinho is struggling to get his defensive combination right. David De Gea will give the match a miss as he is still recuperating from his hip injury. Sergio Romero was very solid in the goal against Sunderland and should start against the Belgian team.
Romero; Shaw, Rojo, Bailly, Valencia; Carrick, Herrera, Pogba, Rashford, Mkhitaryan, Ibrahimovic
Anderlecht
For the Belgian side, Lukasz Teodorczyk is doubtful.
Boeckx; Obradovic, Kara, Spajic, Appiah; Tielemans, Dendoncker; Chipciu, Stanciu, Hanni; Thelin
Key Players
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The Swede has been the lone goal producer for the Red Devils this season and Mourinho would be hoping that he continues his form in front of the goal. The 35-year old’s story has been some kind of unusual as he remains the first choice striker for the Portuguese gaffer. Zlatan has some good memories against Anderlecht as he netted five goals against them in the 2013/14 season.
Anderlecht
Youri Tielemans
The 19-year-old will be the player to watch out for. He has the vision for goal and his creativity in the middle of the pitch has been Anderlecht’s main threat.
