Manchester United vs. FC Astana: Europa League Odds, Live Stream, TV Schedule

Manchester United turn their attention to the UEFA Europa League on Thursday when they open their Group L campaign at home to FC Astana.

The midweek fixture gives Ole Gunnar Solskjaer an opportunity to rest some star names, though the Red Devils manager will be wary of suffering an unwanted upset in their opening group match.

This will be the first meeting between United and the Kazakh side, who advanced to this stage at the expense of BATE Borisov.

AZ Alkmaar and Partizan Belgrade make up the remainder of Group L, and they will face off in Serbia on Thursday.

Date: Thursday, September 19

Time: 3 p.m. BST/8 p.m. ET

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester, England

Live Stream: B/R Live (U.S.), BT Sport Live (UK)

TV Info: BT Sport 2 (UK)

Odds

Manchester United: 1-5

Draw: 25-4

Astana: 12-1

Via Caesars.

Preview

United fans won't have wanted another season playing in Europe's second-tier tournament. That being said, the visit of Astana at least gives Solskjaer's side an opportunity to start on the right foot.

A home fixture against the team most will expect to finish at the bottom of Group L presents the Red Devils with a fine chance to take an early lead in their pool (U.S. viewers only):

Anything but a first-place finish will be considered embarrassing for Solskjaer and his team, who won 1-0 at home to Leicester City on Saturday thanks to a Marcus Rashford penalty.

The England international could be one of the big names rested for the Europa League opener, and sports writer Si Lloyd touted the emerging Mason Greenwood as a contender to take his starting spot:

The 17-year-old impressed in pre-season and has come off the bench in four of United's five Premier League games this season, but those appearances still add up to just over one half of football (47 minutes). 

Greenwood, Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes will all be vying for starts in Europe this season to enhance their first-team prospects.

Astana beat Shakhter Karagandy 2-1 on Sunday and enter Thursday's fixture sitting third in the Kazakhstan Premier League, although they're five points off leaders Tobol with two matches in hand.

Striker Roman Murtazayev and midfielder Marin Tomasov are two of Astana's biggest attacking threats, and they account for nine of the last 17 goals scored by the team in European competition this season.

Ivan Maevski is one of the more seasoned figures among head coach Roman Hryorchuk's side, and he'll hope to disrupt the hosts' creative plans in midfield.

United will likely field some younger players on Thursday, with summer signing Daniel James looking to build on his fast start of three goals in five appearances under Solskjaer.