Manchester United are in desperate need of a win following their 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth last time out, and they will hope to go some way towards righting those wrongs when they host Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League.
The Red Devils won the reverse fixture 1-0 after Anthony Martial converted a first-half penalty, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hoping for a more convincing win at Old Trafford to appease the fans.
Match Preview
© Reuters
United's 1-0 loss at the Vitality Stadium ended a run of three successive wins across all competitions for the Red Devils and puts head coach Solskjaer under real pressure.
The Norwegian has overseen just three league wins this term - just two since the opening day - and any positivity generated by the aforementioned winning run has been undone by the disappointing defeat to the Cherries.
Prior to United's last meeting with Partizan, they had been on a run of six games without a win in 90 minutes but managed a narrow victory away from home to spark a brief upturn in form.
Solskjaer will be hoping that this Europa League tie can have the same effect again and spark a run of positive results.
United have yet to concede a goal in this competition after three games but have only scored twice in a pair of 1-0 wins. In fact, United have only won a game by a margin of more than one goal twice this season, having played 16 games across all competitions.
The Red Devils fans will hope for a more exciting encounter this time around and will certainly be expecting a greater margin of victory than in the reverse fixture.
Partizan are currently fourth in the Serbian SuperLiga, trailing dominant leaders and local rivals Red Star Belgrade by 10 points after 14 games.
They dropped away from the top after suffering a poor patch of form, losing three of their last five after being unbeaten domestically beforehand.
Manchester United form: LDWWWL
Partizan Belgrade form: WLLWLW
Team News
© Reuters
Solskjaer's United injury list is a lengthy one, and the Norwegian will be without several players ahead of this fixture.
Centre-backs Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe are out, although United do have four other senior options in that position.
The Red Devils are thin on full-backs though, with Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot and long-term absentee Timothy Fosu-Mensah all sidelined.
The situation is not much better in midfield, with star man Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic also ruled out, significantly limiting Solskjaer in the middle.
Ashley Young is suspended domestically after an accumulation of yellow cards, but he is eligible to feature in this one.
For Partizan, former Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic is the only significant absentee.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Young; McTominay, Fred; James, Mata, Rashford; Martial
Partizan Belgrade possible starting lineup:
Stojkovic; Miletic, Ostojic, Pavlovic, Urosevic; Zdjelar, Natkho; Tosic, Soumah, Asano; Sadiq
We say: Manchester United 1-0 Partizan Belgrade
United should pick up an important win on home turf, but they have rarely blown the opposition away this season and they could be forced to grind out another 1-0 Europa League win by a Partizan side that kept them so impressively at bay in the reverse fixture.
No Data Analysis info
