Manchester United kick-start their 2024-25 Europa League campaign with an encounter against Eredivisie outfit FC Twente at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
This contest represents the first-ever meeting between the two teams; the Red Devils have lost just one of their previous nine home encounters with Dutch opposition.
Match preview
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Despite slumping to an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League last season, Man United are competing in the Europa League for the seventh time since it was rebranded in 2009 after winning the FA Cup final against rival Manchester City in May.
The Red Devils have since experienced a mixed start to the new campaign, winning three, losing three and drawing one of their seven matches across all competitions, following up back-to-back wins over Southampton (3-0) and Barnsley (7-0) with a goalless stalemate at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
Erik ten Hag has claimed that his United side 'ate Palace alive' in the first half at Selhurst Park, but they ultimately lacked a cutting edge in the final third and were forced to settle for just a point, leaving them 11th in the top-flight standings after five games and three points behind the top four.
The Dutchman is now preparing for a Europa League opener against his beloved Twente, who he grew up supporting and also represented on three occasions in his playing career between 1989 and 2002. Man United will follow up Wednesday's contest with seven more Europa League fixtures in the newly-expanded 36-team competition against Porto, Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce, PAOK, Bodo/Glimt, Viktoria Plzen, Rangers and FCSB.
The Red Devils, who have lost just one of their last 24 home matches in the Europa League, will fancy their chances of success on matchday one against Twente and are among the bookmakers' favourites go all the way and win this year's competition for the second time in their history since their triumph in 2016-17.
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FC Twente finished as high as third in the Eredivisie standings last season for the first time in a decade and have since picked up 11 points from their opening six top-flight games in the new campaign, winning their last two matches against Heerenveen and Almere City.
After securing a routine 2-0 home victory over Robin van Persie's Heerenveen, the Tukkers cruised to a thumping 5-0 away victory against Almere last weekend courtesy of goals from Sem Steijn (2), Sam Lammers, Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Anass Salah-Eddine.
Sitting fourth in the Eredivisie table and seven points behind perfect leaders PSV Eindhoven, Twente have now turned their attention to their first European campaign since competing in the 2012-13 Europa League group stage. They missed out on Champions League qualification earlier this term after losing 5-4 on aggregate to Red Bull Salzburg in the third qualifying round.
Joseph Oosting has been Twente's head coach since July 2023, winning 27 of his 48 games in charge, and he is tasked with ending the club's seven-game winless run in the Europa League at the Theatre of Dreams on Wednesday.
Success against English opposition has been hard to come by for the Tukkers over the years, though, as they have won just one of their previous 13 such meetings across all competitions - a narrow 1-0 home win over Fulham in the 2011-12 Europa League group stage.
Team News
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Man United are still having to cope without summer signing Leny Yoro (foot) and Luke Shaw (calf), while Tyrell Malacia (knee) and Victor Lindelof (toe), who have resumed first-team training, are both doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Despite keeping three successive clean sheets, Ten Hag may consider freshening up his defence, with Harry Maguire an option to replace either Matthijs de Ligt or Lisandro Martinez at centre-back, while either Manuel Ugarte or Casemiro could start in midfield at the expense of Kobbie Mainoo or Christian Eriksen.
Marcus Rashford will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI after he was surprisingly dropped against Palace, having previously scored three goals in two games. Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo and Antony will also battle for starts on the flanks, while Joshua Zirkzee could continue up front as Ten Hag gradually eases Rasmus Hojlund back into the first-team fold.
As for FC Twente, midfielder Michal Sadilek - a first-team regular last season - is still recovering from a laceration in his leg that he suffered in a freak bicycle accident prior to Euro 2024, and he is joined in the treatment room by Younes Taha, who broke his leg during an Eredivisie draw with PEC Zwolle just over a week ago.
Oosting is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, with summer signing Bart van Rooij set to continue on the right side of a back four next to Mees Hilgers, Max Bruns and Anass Salah-Eddine.
Sem Steijn has been a standout performer for Twente so far this term, scoring seven goals in eight games across all competitions, and the 22-year-old is expected to operate in the number 10 role behind former Rangers striker Sam Lammers.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Martinez, Dalot; Ugarte, Mainoo; Antony, Fernandes, Rashford; Zirkzee
FC Twente possible starting lineup:
Unnerstall; Van Rooij, Hilgers, Bruns, Salah-Eddine; Eiting, Regger; Rots, Steijn, Van Bergen; Lammers
We say: Manchester United 3-1 FC Twente
FC Twente have found their form in front of goal in recent weeks and could pose a threat to Man United's backline on Wednesday, particularly through in-form attacker Steijn.
Ten Hag's side have been a somewhat unpredictable outfit for some time, but we expect the Red Devils to outscore their opponents and begin their Europa League campaign on a positive note.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
