United's entire season and perhaps even immediate future rests on their second leg of their quarter final Europa League clash with Lyon tomorrow night.
After a decent but what turned out to be a disappointing draw in France (thanks Onana), United do sit in a relatively strong position to make it through. The fact that this second leg is at Old Trafford gives us more of an advantage.
I think.
It's just, you never know with this United side. They could do absolutely anything.
What Ruben Amorim and all of us would be hoping for though, is victory. That's it. We don't care how we play whether we're lucky or not or even if we get decisions in our favor. As long as Man United WIN, that's all that matters.
Will that happen though is quite a question.
Predicted Lineup
With there being more injury concerns, more players returning and some uncertainty, selecting an XI that is strong enough to do the job maybe a little harder than Amorim initially thought.
Yes, Onana returns.
I know there's been a lot of talk recently that he may not be chosen to play in goal but a part of me thinks that the manager will go with the devil he knows rather than the devil he doesn't.
Bayindir was better than Onana against Newcaslte but only because he made one cockup instead of several. Nonetheless, improvement or not, the Turk doesn't really fill us with much confidence.
Pick your poison I suppose 🤷♂️.
Maguire should return to the back three as De Ligt still sits on the sidelines due to injury. Dorgu to also make a comeback as LWB with Casemiro in the starting XI for Eriksen. The Brazilian was benched for the loss at Newcastle.
This means that Bruno will start as a no 10 alongside Garnacho who scored at the weekend. Hopefully that can give him some confidence for this one.
With no Zirkzee - who is set to miss several weeks and perhaps the rest of the season with his hamstring injury - the only other striker option is the underperforming Rasmus Hojlund.
I feel like this is the period to stake his claim as a United player otherwise it is curtains.
Unless Amorim decides to do something radical, I don't see how we don't play without the Dane. This is an important game and not one where you want to be doing something out of the ordinary.
Approach
We should be on the front foot and look to dominate. I can't see how it will be the other way around but Lyon under Paulo Fonseca aren't really a team that likes to sit back and hit on the break. They are quite possession-based themselves and is something that Amorim wants to improve with this United side.
I doubt that the Old Trafford faithful will allow this team to sit back given the importance of the match. This just invites pressure and while we've been decent defensively, with either of those goalkeepers between the sticks, anything is possible.
This is why a fast start is needed so as to set the tone and perhaps even calm the nerves a little. We know that United and fast starts don't go hand-in-hand as we've only scored 5 goals in 15 minutes or earlier in 49 matches this season.
Damn 😐.
Be nice to make that 6 tomorrow.
The longer the game goes on 0-0 or God forbid Lyon take the lead, the more nervous everyone will get.
As untrustworthy as we can be however, I feel that Lyon are pretty much the same. There was nothing in that first leg that made me truly concerned that we cannot get through this tie.
Yes they had a couple of moments in the box but other than that, if not for Onana, we win that game.
This is a case of executing our game plan, keeping our concentration and scoring whenever the opportunity arises. That is easier said than done especially with Hojlund up front and Bruno playing further forward.
The skipper just hasn't been as involved in the goals when playing as a CAM and we could really use the goals from him in this match. Maybe Amorim will be tempted to play him deeper and run the risk of less solidity in midfield with no Casemiro?
I also think that Casemiro and Ugarte is more defensive and was fine for an away day in Europe but at home in a must-win encounter, is it the best idea when you need goals?
Prediction
A very short preview because there's no real need for much. All we care about is victory.
When you're at this late a stage in a tournament and you suck, while you want to play prime Barcelona tiki-taka football, just getting over the line is all that counts.
I feel somewhat confident as we are at home and we have seen a steady progression in the style of play, and also that I don't believe Lyon are a top side (yet one good enough to cause us trouble especially if one of our players plays for them) but I do think we will have the game in the bag yet somehow find a way to screw it up making it a lot tighter than it should've been.
2-1 to United or to win it on penalties.
Alejandro Garnacho: Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)
Alexandre Lacazette: Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images - Get French Football News