Rostov vs. Manchester United: Team News, Live Stream, TV Info for Europa League

After yet again dropping valuable Premier League points at Old Trafford with a frustrating 1-1 draw against Bournemouth at the weekend, Manchester United's top-four chances were dealt another blow.

Winning the UEFA Europa League is arguably the Red Devils' best chance of qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League, and they face FC Rostov in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Thursday.

United are heavy favourites to advance to the last eight and will be eager to earn a lead in Russia to take back to Old Trafford for the return leg next week.

Read on for all the latest team news and a preview ahead of the clash at Rostov's Olimp-2 ground, as well as scheduling and viewing information.

Date: Thursday, March 9 

Time: 6 p.m. GMT, 1 p.m. ET

TV Info: BT Sport 2 (UK), Fox Sports 2 (U.S.)

Live Stream: BT Sport Player, Fox Sports Go

Team News

Having both started in United's draw with Bournemouth, neither Luke Shaw nor Wayne Rooney will be involved against Rostov, while Eric Bailly is suspended, per ESPN FC's Ben Dinnery:

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has returned to the squad, though, having missed United's last two games through injury, per United photographer Craig Norwood:

Per The Sun's Toby Gannon, Rostov will be without goalkeeper Soslan Dzhanayev. Meanwhile, key striker Dmitry Poloz was rested completely as the Russian outfit hammered Tom Tomsk 6-0 on Friday.

Possible Rostov XI: Medvedev; Kalachev, Mevlja, Navas, Granat, Kudryashov; Erokhin, Gatcan, Noboa; Bukharov, Poloz

Possible United XI: Romero; Valencia, Smalling, Jones, Rojo; Herrera, Pogba; Mata, Lingard, Martial; Ibrahimovic

Preview

United have quality in their squad and strength in depth that Rostov simply cannot match, but the Russian outfit have proved recently they can cause problems for even the biggest sides at home.

Bayern Munich were downed 3-2 by Rostov earlier this season in the Champions League group stages, while Ajax were beaten 4-1 in the play-off round back in August.

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/Getty Images

Indeed, out of six matches at the Olimp-2 in European competition in 2016-17, Rostov have only been beaten once—a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid.

In the Europa League round of 32 last month Rostov thrashed Sparta Prague 4-0 in the home leg.

United manager Jose Mourinho will be aware of the threat posed by the Russian Premier League outfit and will surely warn his side against complacency ahead of Thursday's clash.

Rostov's key players should be their attacking men. Aleksandr Bukharov is fresh from having netted a double in the league while Poloz has been excellent in Europe this season, per the Europa League:

Mourinho will likely look to Ibrahimovic to bag United at least one key away goal.

The Swede endured a tough 90 minutes against the Cherries as he missed a number of chances, including a second-half penalty.

He has also subsequently earned a domestic ban after clashing with Tyrone Mings:

As a result he will be limited to playing European football for the next few weeks and will be desperate to contribute against Rostov.

United have more than enough ability in their ranks to beat Rostov, even away from home.

The pace of Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Mkhitaryan could prove the key to unlocking the Rostov back line, and United will hugely benefit if they are quick out of the blocks on Thursday and claim an early goal.