Manchester United vs. PSV Eindhoven: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info

Manchester United vs. PSV Eindhoven represents something of a Memphis Depay derby, as the youngster's old side visit the home of his current employers. 

It is is a chance for Louis van Gaal to resume old hostilities—the former Ajax manager has had plenty of run-ins with his previous club's rivals. An unpleasant welcome presumably awaits Hector Moreno—the PSV defender whose tackle broke Luke Shaw's leg when the two sides met in Eindhoven in September. 

Van Gaal did not blame the Mexico international for the incident, saying, per the Mirror, "It was a reckless tackle, but I don’t think Hector Moreno did it on purpose."

That leg break cast an odd pall on the game, particularly United's performance, as they fell to a 2-1 defeat in spite of dominating possession by a margin of 61.2 percent to 38.8 percent and taking 17 shots to PSV's six. 

If those figures are repeated at Old Trafford, then Phillip Cocu's men will do well to emerge with another victory. 

A draw would be a fine result for PSV, as it would keep United just one point ahead of them in the group. For United, with a tough trip to Wolfsburg on the horizon, a win would be crucial. It would mean qualification to the knockout stages of the tournament is assured, and put them in poll position to win the group.

Date: Wednesday, 24 November 2015

Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT / 2:45 p.m. ET

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester

TV Info: BT Sport Europe (U.K. Only) / Fox Sports 1 (U.S. Only)

Live Stream: BT Sport (U.K. Only) / Fox Soccer 2 Go (U.S. Only)

Form Lines

Manchester United: DDDWWW

PSV Eindhoven:  WWWWWD

Team News

United's website describes the team news from the Red Devils' perspective as "mixed." It is an apt description as Van Gaal told MUTV (h/t ManUtd.com) that Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and Marouane Fellaini could play, but Phil Jones and Ander Herrera, who were both injured in Saturday's win over Watford, were unavailable. 

JOHN THYS/Getty Images

Shaw is, of course, still unavailable due to his leg break and Antonio Valencia is a long-term injury absentee following an operation on his foot. Michael Carrick remains on the sidelines, per United's website. James Wilson is "back in training after suffering a swollen knee ahead of the Watford game." 

The team also reported that Van Gaal "explained Bastian Schweinsteiger only missed Tuesday's open training session because he is having a recovery day and he should be available for the Old Trafford encounter."

PSV's English language site listed the following 20 players as travelling to England: 

"

Luuk de Jong, Hector Moreno, Andres Guardado, Santiago Arias, Jorrit Hendrix, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Jeffrey Bruma, Adam Maher, Davy Propper, Simon Poulsen, Stijn Schaars, Luciano Narsingh, Jurgen Locadia, Remko Pasveer, Jeroen Zoet, Gaston Pereiro, Steven Bergwijn, Rai Vloet, Luuk Koopmans.

"

United's site reported that of the above, Moreno and Poulsen are considered doubtful.

Predicted Lineups

United's lineup is a tricky one to predict. The above XI assumes that Ashley Young will keep his place ahead of Matteo Darmian to add to United's attacking width. Marcos Rojo might be a tad lucky to keep his place in the side after his mistake to concede a late penalty against Watford, but Van Gaal is short on defensive options, unless Darmian gets a run out at left-back, or Young switches flanks. 

Jon Super/Associated Press

The Schmidfield should be in full effect for this one, although Fellaini is an option. The attacking lineup shown above assumes that Rooney will be back in the side as he was absent through illness, but Martial will be eased back in from the bench as it was a knock that kept him out. That would allow Van Gaal to leave Memphis up front where he was so effective against Watford. 

For PSV, the above seems a good guess at Cocu's starting XI. They will play 4-3-3, as they have all season. Narsingh missed out on a place in the starting lineup in their previous game—a draw against Willem II, but he and Locadia could well flank De Jong. 

At left-back, Guardado might be called to fill in if Poulsen is unavailable, and Moreno will play in place of Isimat-Mirin if he is fit to.

Players to Watch 

Memphis will be the one to watch from a United perspective. After a confidence-battering few weeks, he stepped up when called upon against Watford and provided a crucial goal. Having impressed on his return to Eindhoven, he will be eager to once again prove that he is ready to be at United. 

Eindhoven's main man in Memphis' absence has been De Jong, who has 11 goals in 11 starts and one substitute appearance in the Eredivisie. Maxime Lestienne's absence will be felt as creator-in-chief—he has four league and two Champions League assists to his name already this season. 

Guardado will be important in this regard—the Mexican is averaging 2.7 key passes per game in the Eredivisie this season, so United will have to be aware of his ability to create chances.

Key Battle

A similar pattern of play to the game in the Netherlands seems likely. With that in mind the key battle will once again be between United's creative midfielders and PSV's defensive unit. The Red Devils will hope to retain some of the incision they showed against Watford as they come up against a team which counter-attacked their way to victory when the two teams last met.

Odds

Manchester United Win: 51/100

Draw: 88/25

PSV Eindhoven Win: 13/2

Odds for the game correct at the time of writing, per Odds Shark.

All advanced statistics, per WhoScored.com.