And it is kind of a must-win, or at least must not lose although a draw may not be enough to see Ruben Amorim in the top 8 come the end of this match which is what he desires.
United travel to Romania to take on FCSB in the final match of the new Europa League league phase and it is a bit of a potential banana skin.
While we are the favorites, with the pressure of pretty much needing to win in order to absolutely quality in the top 8 and the fact that United can buckle under this pressure, I can see a very interesting game ahead.
Predicted Lineup
As you can see, it is quite strong. I believe the manager will go nigh on full strength because of the ramifications of not winning. He's said many times how he would like to avoid the two extra play-off games as it will give him more time on the training ground so he will have to pick a strong team despite having just played a tough game at Fulham followed by another difficult one this Sunday against Palace.
I think he has to make the EL his priority from this point on and it would really help if we can go to Romania and get the win meaning that Amorim needs his best team.
That obviously suggests Onana out, Bayindir in. I don't think many would disagree with that as the Turk is probably showing better reliability that the Cameroonian.
With Yoro in the presser with Amorim, that usually indicates that that player will start the game. That's what I believe will happen as he will come in for Maguire. The Englishman played the full 90 on Sunday while Yoro replaced De Ligt with 30 minutes remaining. Those two have also had injury concerns in recent weeks and have been on the bench and/or substituted in games. I think Amorim will do the same again.
Martinez to keep his spot as the thrid centre-back.
Dalot always starts on the left whenever available. Mazraoui to be on the bench however, there are several options for the manager in that Mazraoui could play as part of the back three, he could be RWB as usual, he could play on the left instead of Dalot, or like I believe, he could be rested.
If he is benched, Amad can start as RWB which is his best position in my opinion.
The midfield will also be the best possible duo with Mainoo and Ugarte continuing in the centre of the park. However, young Collyer has impressed the boss and has shown much promise in his recent appearances. His goal-line clearance last Sunday will have also boosted his confidence even more. I wouldn't be surprised if he did start as he probably deserves to.
This all means that Bruno and the possibly soon-to-be ex-Red Garnacho to start as CAMs with Zirkzee to come in for Hojlund as striker.
Approach
You don't actually know what you're going to get from United. We could go there and dominate; we could play shite; we could control the game without much penetration; FCSB could be all over us but we manage to pull something out the hat.
Anything is possible.
What I see occurring is a game similar to that which we saw at Viktoria Plzen in our last away EL match.
That was a very boring encounter until Onana decided to liven things up by playing a pre-assist to Plzen to help them score the easiest of openers. As I doubt that he will be playing this match, we can rule out those type of errors, although admittedly, Bayindir doesn't fill me with much more confidence as he too can be very suspect even though at the moment, I would prefer him over Onana.
But what that error did do was spark us into life as after that, we were a changed team. Hojlund came on for Zirkzee and was a game changer as his 2 goals sealed the deal and made qualification straight into the round of 16 a little easier.
In that though, we see two things with United: 1. we need something to get us going (if we get going at all) rather than have that intensity and tempo from the start, and 2. that our strikers look better off the bench.
Those 2 goals by Hojlund were his last for the club. This match was on 12th December.
That still didn't take anything away from that performance as he was man of the match for what he did. Zirkzee has also looked better coming on than when he's started. However, his latest starts have probably been the best we've seen from any number 9 between him and Hojlund although it's not as if they were anything amazing which tells you just how awful they've been leading the line.
But we do look better with the Dutchman at the moment because he is at least holding the ball up, linking the play up and looking more confident up top that his Danish companion.
We just need to start creating more chances because more than anything, that is what has been lacking from our game. This goes back to that lack of intensity and tempo from United which continues all game not just at the start.
Amad and Garnacho are also two of our more creative players and I believe they are at their best when playing out wide rather than down the middle. With my predicted lineup, this will at least give us one wide player that can cause problems because neither Dalot nor Mazraoui do anything down the flanks.
We need something happening out wide. This could help with that chance creation for the striker.
Form
We've had four wins on the bounce which gives us 15 points from our seven matches. The other three were draws and is the reason as to why we're in this precarious position of potentially not qualifying for the round of 16.
The two play-off games still need to be won in order to get through to the next round.
One of the positives though, is that we are one of only three teams who remain unbeaten in the tournament. Galatasaray and Lazio are the other two.
Our points haul of 15 is 4 behind leaders Lazio and just 1 ahead of tonight's opponents.
This is why this will be an interesting game as FCSB aren't too bad.
FCSB
Like I said, the Romanians are only 1 point behind United after their seven matches. They've won four, drawn two and lost one which was a 4-0 defeat against our opponents last week, Rangers.
Admittedly I don't know much more about them other than FCSB are 2nd in their league but on almost the exact same record as leaders Cluj with just goal difference separating the two sides.
But with their European record so far, it shows that they aren't a bad side and United will have to be very careful if they want to go to Bucharest and get a win.
Ruben Amorim mentioned in his presser how FCSB are effective without the ball as they use counters and set-pieces to harm opponents. Potentially facing a low block and coming up against a side that is good at free-kicks and corners is definitely our kryptonite. We have to be so careful with these which is why team selection is all important.
Being switched on from the start and setting a good tempo is also key for United, so is the first goal as we know how that can affect us in games.
Top 8 ramifications
There are of course three possible results in this game all of which could lead to different outcomes depending on what others do.
If we win, we will finish in the top 8 regardless of what anyone else does.
If we draw, United can still stay in the top 8 although should Lyon, Spurs and Anderlecht win, they will all go above us as they are currently on 14 points. If Galatasaray and Bodo/Glimt win their matches and win well, they will also be on 16 points like us but with a better goal difference meaning that they too, could leapfrog United.
Should those five teams go above us, that means we will end up in 9th with no chance of top 8 qualification.
Worst-case scenario of losing means that FCSB would go above Amorim's team and leaves the door open for all those just mentioned to overtake us as well which also means we end up out of the top 8.
Let's just go and get the win. Then we don't have to worry about what anyone else does.
Prediction
With all those ramifications now explained, I do believe we will get the 3 points. Like I said, I can see a very similar game to that of Plzen in which we just about managed to come out on top.
This game just has that feel to me, that feel of we should win, we will win but it definitely won't be straightforward.
It is also one of those matches where we could put ourselves in trouble by making errors.
Whatever, happens though, we should be winning this. 2-1 to United.
Background player image: Alejandro Garnacho | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)