Fenerbahce vs. Manchester United: Team News, Preview, Live Stream and TV Info
Manchester United can take a massive step toward qualification for the knockout stages of the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League on Thursday, as they travel to Turkey to take on Fenerbahce.
The hosts currently sit two points behind both United and Feyenoord in the standings, and a Red Devils win would all but assure a spot in the next round, with Zorya hardly a factor in Group A.
United have already beaten Fenerbahce and did so easily on the previous matchday, but away trips to Turkey are hardly ever easy. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming match.
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Date: Thursday, November 3
Time: 6 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET
Venue: Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Istanbul
TV Info: BT Sport 3 (UK), Fox Sports 1 (U.S.)
Live Stream: BT Sport app, Fox Soccer 2Go
Team News
As reported by ESPN FC's Arindam Rej, the Red Devils are facing something of a defensive injury crisis. Antonio Valencia and Eric Bailly have been two defensive standouts so far this season, and neither is expected to feature for the club anytime soon.
Chris Smalling didn't feature in the draw against Burnley due to injury, and he's likely to be rested for the Premier League. Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News noticed a lot of fringe players took part in training on Monday, including Phil Jones and Bastian Schweinsteiger:
Fenerbahce made few changes to their starting XI for the match against Karabukspor, a routine 5-0 win, and the Turks are expected to field their strongest squad on Thursday.
Predicted United XI: David De Gea, Matteo Darmian, Daley Blind, Marcus Rojo, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford
Predicted Fenerbahce XI: Volkan Demirel, Sener Ozbayrakli, Simon Kjaer, Martin Skrtel, Hasan Ali Kaldirim, Mehmet Topal, Souza, Roman Neustadter, Jeremain Lens, Volkan Sen, Aatif Chahechouhe, Robin van Persie
Preview
The last couple of weeks have been something of a roller-coaster ride for United, as wins over Fenerbahce and Manchester City were offset by the embarrassing 4-0 loss against Chelsea and last weekend's disappointing goalless draw at home to Burnley.
United played well against Burnley, but, somehow, they failed to convert any of their numerous chances. It was a solid display, but both the team and fans were left disappointed.
No one has taken as much criticism as manager Jose Mourinho, and in the wake of the draw and his being sent to the stands, plenty of pundits took aim again. As shared by Oliver Kay of the Times, his recent statistics suggest it's not entirely unwarranted:
The same talk was heard after the loss against Chelsea, however, and the midweek win over City in the EFL Cup immediately restored some positivity. In all likelihood, Mourinho and his troops will hope for the same thing on Thursday, so there's a good chance the manager will opt to make less rotations than he normally would for a Europa League match.
A key difference between the loss against Chelsea and the Burnley draw was the fact United actually played quite well―defender Blind couldn't believe they didn't score, per Zarah Connolly of the club's official website:
"I think the team performance was positive and we had a lot of energy.
We created chances and I think we also did well in defence, we didn't give much away. We were on top of them. We didn't give them any space.
We played attacking football and I think that's what the people want to see. The only thing is we had to finish. It was a bit frustrating [not to score].[…] It is hard to believe we didn’t score one goal. I hope it's just one of those days because we have some great strikers and some great midfielders who can score goals well. I'm not worried about that. I will try to see it as one of those days.
"
If the Red Devils play at the same level on Thursday, they won't be as unlucky in front of goal against a Fenerbahce defence that was thoroughly overmatched the last time these teams met.
The Turks have been in solid form since and do have a great reputation at home, but their performances tend to drop off dramatically when the competition improves.
