Manchester United welcome Real Sociedad to Old Trafford
Fresh from ending Arsenal’s perfect start to the season, Manchester United begin their Europa League campaign in Group E versus Real Sociedad at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
Man United will now aim to continue their perfect streak of making it out of the group stage in the Europa League, and they have gone as far as the semi-finals in each of their last three appearances in the second-tier competition.
Last season’s European adventure ended abruptly for Man United as they fell to Atletico Madrid in the last-16 of the Champions League, but the Theatre of Dreams faithful will not be expecting Omonia or Sheriff Tiraspol to give their side much trouble later on in Group E.
The 2022-23 season marks Sociedad’s third successive appearance in the Europa League group stage, and they successfully made it through to the knockout rounds in 2020-21 and 2021-22, but their run ended in the last-32 stage to RB Leipzig last year.
Prolific performances have not been on the menu for Sociedad so far this season, and even if Ten Hag opts to rejig the pack in defence, Alguacil’s side are fighting an uphill battle to trouble the Red Devils backline.
The visitors are still a tough nut to crack on their day, but the expected absence of Le Normand will be of major benefit to Man United, who should edge a tight contest for their fifth win on the bounce.
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Arsenal begin Europa League campaign against FC Zurich
Arsenal begin their 2022-23 UEFA Europa League campaign with an important fixture as they take on FC Zurich at the Letzigrund on today.
Mikel Arteta‘s side have been impressive so far and have a point to prove in Europe this season.
FC Zurich are in ninth place in the Swiss Super League and have been shockingly poor so far this season. The home side suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Lugano last week and will want to avoid another debacle in this fixture.
Arsenal, on the other hand, are at the top of the Premier League standings at the moment and have stepped up to the plate this season. The Gunners slumped to a damaging 3-1 defeat against Manchester United in their previous game and will need to bounce back this week.
Mohamed Elneny, Thomas Partey, and Reiss Nelson are currently injured and will not be able to feature in this game. Emile Smith Rowe picked up a muscle injury against Manchester United and will also be unavailable this week.
Arsenal have never played a match against FC Zurich and will be wary of an upset in this fixture. The Gunners are seasoned European campaigners and will need to bring their experience to the fore.
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Lazio host Feyenoord in opening Group F game
Lazio will aim to carry their decent domestic form into Europe as they host Feyenoord in their opening Group F fixture in the UEFA Europa League. Both teams enjoy an open style of play but the Serie A side’s individual quality is likely to give them the edge here.
Lazio only just missed out on the knockout phase of the Europa League last season and will be looking to make things right this term. They will hope to carry their domestic form into the Europa League having lost just once this season.
That defeat came in Lazio’s last Serie A fixture as they were beaten 2-1 by Napoli on Saturday. They took an early lead through Mattia Zaccagni but were let down by some poor defending and were beaten by Napoli.
One positive for Lazio is that they often do their best work at the StadioOlimpic having claimed two straight home wins prior to the defeat to Napoli.
Feyenoord’s solid start to the season is made even more impressive by the fact that they lost a number of key players in the summer. Cyriel Dessers, Tyrell Malacia, Luis Sinisterra and Marcos Senesi, who all played key roles in their run to the Conference League final, have all moved on. Lazio have the upper hand in this game.
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Roma quest for continental silverware kicksoff as they take on
Having tasted European glory earlier this year, Roma get their latest quest for continental silverware under way on Thursday, as they take on Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad.
The two Group C rivals meet on the Europa League‘s opening day, with only the eventual group winners guaranteed safe passage to the last 16.
Greeted with great fervour upon their arrival back in the Eternal City, Roma finally lifted a European trophy after decades of waiting, when in May, they edged past Feyenoord in the inaugural Europa Conference League final.
The Giallorossi also finished sixth in Serie A at the end of Jose Mourinho‘s first season in charge, and therefore earned a step-up to Europe’s second-tier club tournament.
After a lightning start to the new domestic season, Roma sat tied at the top of the standings before their Sunday night loss to Udinese, and had gone unbeaten through their first four league fixtures.
Jose Mourinho may make several changes to his starting XI on Thursday, considering both the need to manage workload and his team’s awful showing against Udinese last time out.
Roma’s top Conference League scorer on last season’s road to Tirana, Tammy Abraham, will be sidelined after injuring his left shoulder in an awkward fall at the Dacia Arena.
With plenty of European experience on their side – not least already this season – Ludogorets will prove no pushovers for a Roma squad shaken by their heavy loss at the weekend. A draw would represent an acceptable result for both sides, and that is the likeliest outcome.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
