Mourinho leads Fenerbahce to renew acquaintances with Man United
Jose Mourinho will renew acquaintances with Manchester United on Thursday night when his Fenerbahce outfit welcome the Red Devils to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium for a Europa League clash.
The two teams meet for the first time since November 2016 when Mourinho was in charge of Man United and suffered a 2-1 away defeat to the Turkish giants in the Europa League group stage.
After hitting out at sections of the media for “creating stories and fairytales” about his future as Man United manager, Erik ten Hag steered the Red Devils to a much-needed 2-1 home victory against Brentford in the Premier League last weekend, ending a five-game winless run.
Ten Hag has acknowledged that “the pressure is always there” when managing a club the size of Man United and his team “must build” on their display against Brentford if they wish to put together a positive run of form in the coming weeks.
Man United have had little success on the continent in recent years, as they have won only one of their last 10 European matches.
Since taking the reins of Fenerbahce in June, Mourinho has won eight, drawn four and lost just two of his opening 14 games across all competitions, and his team enter Thursday’s contest having not lost any of their last four matches.
A closely-fought contest between two teams who will not be at full strength could be in store on Thursday, and goals can also be expected considering the inconsistent defensive performances of both clubs in recent matches.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Favourites Tottenham host out-of-form AZ Alkmaar
Chelsea travel to face Panathinaikos in Conference League fixture
Chelsea will be looking to make it two wins from two in the 2024-25 Conference League when they travel to Greece to face Panathinaikos at Olympiako Stadio Spyros Louis on Thursday evening.
While the Blues beat Gent 4-2 at Stamford Bridge in their opening fixture of the league phase three weeks ago, the Greens played out a 1-1 draw with Bosnian outfit Borac Banja Luka.
Chelsea came away from Anfield empty handed last weekend after they were beaten 2-1 by league leaders Liverpool.
Nevertheless, head coach Enzo Maresca was satisfied with many aspects of his team’s performance, labelled by the Italian as “one of the best of the season”, and he has insisted that his group of players are heading in the “right direction”.
Chelsea have never lost against Greek opposition in European competition, winning four times and drawing twice, although those two draws were played out on Greek soil.
Panathinaikos will have to cope without captain Fotis Ioannidis (adductor) injury, while Dimitris Limnios, Zeca and Tonny Vilhena are all ineligible as they have all been left out of the club’s Conference League squad.
Chelsea will be regarded as firm favourites to come out on top in Thursday’s fixture, even with Maresca expected to ring the changes. Panathinaikos cannot be taken lightly by the West Londoners, but we still expect the Premier League side to prevail in Greece.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Porto set to host German side Hoffenheim
Portuguese giants Porto are set to host German side Hoffenheim in their third Europa League game of the league phase on Thursday at Estadio Do Dragao.
The hosts are 24th of the 36 teams in the table with just one point from two matches, while the away side are 11th with four points and beat Dynamo Kiev 2-0 in their last match in the competition on October 3.
The Portuguese side were unfortunate to have not beaten Manchester United in their last Europa League game given they had come back from 2-0 down to take a 3-2 lead by the 50th minute, as they were denied all three points when Harry Maguire scored United’s equaliser in the 91st minute.
The hosts have had an exceptional start to their Primeira Liga season, winning seven of their first eight league games, with their solitary defeat coming against leaders Sporting Lisbon in late August.
Porto’s home record is outstanding considering they have won 20 of their last 25 home fixtures, though they have lost two, drawn one and won just one of their four most recent games at Estadio Do Dragao in the Europa League.
Despite Porto having struggled recently at home in the Europa League, their overall form at Estadio Do Dragao is outstanding, and they should come into Thursday’s game as favourites.
Additionally, considering Hoffenheim have numerous injury issues and have been poor away from home for some time, it would not be surprising if they lost.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
FIXTURES
Maccabi Tel Aviv 16:45 Real Sociedad
Midtjylland 16:45 Union Saint-Gilloise
Athletic Club 19:00 Slavia Prague
Fenerbahçe 19:00 Manchester United
Malmö FF 19:00 Olympiakos Piraeus
Olympique Lyonnais 19:00 Beşiktaş
