Man Utd favorites to beat Villarreal in Europa League final?

Manchester United can end the season with silverware as they take on Villarreal in the Europa League final on Wednesday night.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is yet to win a trophy as United manager but the Norwegian coach has an excellent opportunity to end the drought in Poland this week.

Man Utd head into the game after finishing second in the Premier League which has booked their place in the Champions League next campaign.

Solskjaer was afforded the luxury of being able to rest several important players on the final day of the season but United still came away with a 2-1 win at Wolves to finish the season in style.

Villarreal on the other hand ended their campaign with a 2-1 defeat at Real Madrid but they still secured European football after finishing seventh in La Liga.

Unai Emery is a Europa League master having reached the final on five occasions and he’ll be aiming to win the trophy for the fourth time.

Villarreal booked their place in the final with a narrow 2-1 win over Arsenal so they certainly shouldn’t be underestimated.

Betting odds

It will be no surprise to hear that Manchester United are the pre-match favorites with bookmakers such as 22Bet, who’re pricing the Red Devils at 2/5 to lift the trophy. You can check info on the bookie and see all the latest odds before placing your bet.

Villarreal are the underdogs and can be backed at odds of 2/1 to cause a shock in Poland on Wednesday night while the draw after 90 minutes is available at 12/5 if you think it will go to extra time.

We think United will get the job done inside the 90 minutes and 3-1 looks a decent bet at odds of 35/1. Bruno Fernandes to score anytime at odds of 17/10 is also a tempting bet.

Team news

Solskjaer will make plenty of changes to his starting eleven with several players recalled after being rested for the trip to Wolves at the weekend. Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani should all come into the side.

Man Utd will give Harry Maguire every opportunity to prove his fitness as the defender looks to return from an ankle injury that’s hampered him in recent weeks. However, the England international is considered a major doubt.

Anthony Martial will also require a late fitness test as the Frenchman is struggling with a knee problem that’s kept him out for the past two months.

However, there is some good news for United as Fred and Scott McTominay are expected to overcome minor issues to return in midfield.

Villarreal have no fresh injury concerns but they will be without attacker Samuel Chukwueze while Juan Foyth and Vicente Iborra are also set to miss out.

Prediction: Man Utd 3-1 Villarreal

Jose Mourinho is the new coach for Roma but club slip out of European contention

The only news that seemed to matter this week for Roma is that Jose Mourinho will be the new coach for next season. The ‘Special One’ will come in and try to take Roma to the next level just like he did with Inter and this will be the first time that Mourinho will return to Italian football in 11 years.

The last time Mourinho was in Serie A will never be forgotten. He won the treble with Inter including the 2010 Champions League and that was the clubs first European Cup since 1965.

His appointment has been met with mixed reaction though. Inter fans are not happy obviously but some of Roma’s fans aren’t quite sure either. He is welcomed and more so given that Paulo Fonseca the current coach has not done the required job. But are Roma getting vintage Mourinho or a coach who is to stuck in his ways and hasn’t moved on? That’s the problem and although Mourinho did win trophies at Chelsea and Manchester United both of those jobs quickly turned sour and he was sacked. Of course Tottenham sacked him just a month ago and he left empty handed. If anything his time at Roma is going to be roller coaster drama and his presence in Italy will be filling the column inches no doubt.

As for this season Roma have slipped out of a direct route into European competition. The Giallorossi lost their 11th game of the season this past weekend going down at Sampdoria 2-0 and that was their 2nd loss in a row. Indeed Roma’s last victory came back on April 11th and they are now in 7th place. That position is good enough to be entered into the qualifying stages of the Europa League but not the competition proper. The club are 9 points from that target with 4 games left so the best they can hope for will be the qualifying stages. Even then that is in doubt as they only hold a 2 point advantage over Sassuolo.

The defeat to Sampdoria would have hurt because Borja Mayoral had a goal disallowed and Edin Dzeko missed a penalty. This has clearly been a poor period for the club but they will hope that the announcement of Mourinho as coach will propel the team to have a strong finish in Serie A.

Today Roma will play their 2nd leg in the Europa League semi-finals although that tie feels like a dead rubber given that they lost 6-2 to Manchester United in the first leg. More than a miracle will be needed tonight to turn this game round.

Roma will play Crotone at home this weekend and they will be the odds on favourites to win that game.

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Man Utd 6-2 AS Roma: Three things we learnt from the first leg of the Europa League Semi-finals

Manchester United continued their dominant and ruthless showing in the Europa League, as they demolished a Roma side, who were forced to make three substitutes in the first half of the game due to unfortunate injuries. With this 6-2 victory at Old Trafford, it leaves the Red Devils with one foot into the Europa League finals and not much to worry about for the second leg in Italy next week.

The hosts got off to the perfect start with a goal in the ninth minute through Bruno Fernandes, who was smartly found by Edinson Cavani before chipping the ball over Pau Lopez. However, the team conceded two cheap goals through individual errors and poor defensive awareness as the Italian side were able to achieve two away goals and most importantly the lead, ten minutes before the break.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men meant business and came out with the right mindset after the half-time break, leading to a crucial equaliser from Cavani three minutes into the second half, who produced a world-class finish. From there onwards, it was all Manchester United as Roma found it too difficult to keep up with them and handle them, with the English team scoring four goals in the last 25 minutes of the match, as the goals came from Cavani again, Fernandes, Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood.

Here are the three things we learnt from United’s latest Europa League fixture…

One foot into the Europa League finals

Despite failing to get past the semi-finals of three competitions during the 2019-20 season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United are 90 minutes away from finally experiencing their first final under the 48-year-old Norwegian international. It may seem like a long time coming, but the manager and the players have shown the maturity and understanding to comeback from the downfall they had suffered from last season, resulting in a campaign ending with zero silverware.

With one foot in the Europa League final, both the manager and the players will still have a lot to takeaway from the first leg against Roma, as a number of individuals had lost their heads once the opposition took the lead, and the coach is always criticised for his in-game management skills. Though, on this occasion, Solskjaer did not change the line-up after trailing to Roma, as the team managed to turn things around in the second half as they showed their pure brilliance and quality.

The big characters in midfield and attack stepped up

After Edin Dzeko had given the visitors the lead in the 34th minute of the game, nothing was going right for United, who were failing to string a couple of passes together and were not making the clear effort on both sides of the pitch. However, with the half-time break arriving at the perfect time for the side, the huge characters in the team in Bruno Fernandes, Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba effectively stepped up in the second half, leaving Roma with no chance of defending their 2-1 lead.

With experienced players who have played at the highest level of football for quite some time like the above trio, they are the type of individuals who are able to create a chance or score a goal from half a moment. When a manager has born winners and players who step up when the side need them the most, it leaves Solskjaer with very little to do or to change in order to turn the game around, as individuals such as Cavani, Fernandes and Pogba are able to do this single-handedly.

Man Utd remain favourites to win the Europa League

For sure, Manchester United were seen as the clear favourites to win the Europa League after they were knocked out of the Champions League group stages, though, the side had to take their performance levels and results up a notch in order to prevent themselves from being regarded as bottlers. As the club have not won a trophy since May 2017, which was the Europa League under Jose Mourinho, everyone at the club will want to re-write history by becoming two-time winners.

With the opposition for the final yet to be confirmed between Arsenal and Villarreal, the Red Devils should have more than enough class and individual brilliance to see out either of the sides in the Europa League final. Not only that, but the side also have one of the best form away from home in Europe, as the team have shown their pure class of elite mentality and intelligence to win games. In the end, it would be seen as a huge shock if the Red Devils fail to win the competition and a lot of questions and doubts will be raised on whether the manager/players are good enough for the club.

Roma smashed for 6 goals as Manchester United run riot in the Europa League

The week had begun with Roma fans very unhappy with Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s comments about the club. Solskjaer had said that he hadn’t watched much of Roma and didn’t really know too much about the club in response to his preparation of United’s game against them.

Roma fans were livid and put up banners where the players train which some read ‘give them something to remember us by’. Well that didn’t quite go to plan and Roma who had lost 7-1 at Old Trafford 14 years ago went down 6-2 and are surely out of the Europa League now.

It was a devastating result and it showed the quality that Manchester United can still possess on their day. It is odd in some ways though because this game had shifted back and forth and for a time Roma were leading 2-1 and looking good for it too. Oh how football can be so cruel.

Perhaps the Gods had acted too quick in announcing this would be a forgettable night for Roma once again in Europe. Within a few minutes of the game kicking off one of Roma’s best players this season Jordan Veretout had to go off with an injury. Five minutes later Roma were trailing 1-0 through a Bruno Fernandes goal. It was a great chip that Fernandes produced to put United in charge of the game. At this point the rest looked inevitable, but Roma would surprise first before hitting the canvas.

Just five minutes after the goal the Giallorossi hit back. Paul Pogba handled the ball in the area and they were awarded a penalty. The impressive Lorenzo Pellegrini who is ranked 3rd in the best Roma players in the fantasy football standings converted with no trouble and it was 1-1.

But still the total non luck continued for Roma when they lost a further two players to injury. First it was Pau Lopez and then Leonardo Spinazzola had to leave the field. The good news was that Roma would take the lead. Pellegrini was able to set up Edin Dzeko for an easy goal and Dzeko a former Manchester City player would have been happy with that. The first half ended with Roma in the lead full time would not be so kind.

Within 3 minutes of the restart Edinson Cavani had made it 2-2 though VAR did question the goal it stood. Just past the hour mark Cavani made it 3-2 to United and his 2nd of the night after latching onto a rebound. And then it was 4-2 ten minutes later with a Fernandes penalty. Chris Smalling had made the foul, the former Manchester United player, it all seemed written in the stars and this game was over for Roma, the problem was there was more goals to come.

On the 76th minute it was 5 goals for the home side, Fernandes turning provider this time and the ball found Paul Pogba’s head for sheer joy for the Red Devils. Mason Greenwood just rubbed salt into the wounds to make it 6-2 for the night and put, let’s face it, two feet into the final for Manchester United.

Roma need to win 4-0 to advance to the final, they will be at home of course for the 2nd leg but this seems quite a stretch to believe that they have any chance of making it. It has been a nightmare of a season for Roma simply because it had started so well, but this match proved that the club are in dire straits and that coach Paolo Fonseca will surely be replaced in the summer.

After going their last 3 games without a win Roma are in 7th place in Serie A which means that they would have to go through a qualifying round just to participate in next seasons Europa League. They could also finish 8th and have no European football next season, which is a real possibility. At the weekend the Giallorossi will face Sampdoria.

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AC Milan 0-1 Man Utd (1-2 agg.): Rossoneri punished by defensive mistake and missed chances

Milan managed to get a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last week and their chances of going through to the next round very decent ahead of tonight’s game. However, Man Utd scored the only goal at San Siro after a mistake at the back by the Rossoneri, who have themselves to blame. 

Much like the first leg, the performance was far from terrible by Stefano Pioli’s side and you could even argue that they were the better side overall. Having said that, when it came to the ever-so-important final touch, it’s clear that Man Utd edged Milan in both of the games.  Continue reading

Man Utd 1-1 AC Milan: Top three Rossoneri performers as Kjaer clinches important away goal

Milan were heading towards a decent result – albeit a disappointing one considering the events of the game – as Man Utd had a one-goal with just minutes to go of second half. However, then Simon Kjaer stepped up and scored a crucial away goal for the Rossoneri, who are now in a very good position. 

Stefano Pioli’s men did very well despite the injury crisis, playing without the likes of Ismael Bennacer, Hakan Calhanoglu, Theo Hernandez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ante Rebic. The alternatives stepped up, just as we saw against Hellas Verona, and with a bit more luck they could have won the game.  Continue reading

In Europe Manchester United are bullish and brilliant but in the Premier League they have lost direction

The difference seemingly can’t be measured when Manchester United play in Europe and then switch to domestic football. Here we have a club whose form this season in the Premier League has been amongst the best, but United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keep having their dips in form.

Every team of course has form problems and can go on an average to bad run, the problem with Manchester United is that it seems to hang around longer. The flipside to this is that they can pull out 5-6 game winning runs. But in this moment it feels as though the Red Devils have lost some direction in the Premier League.

Perhaps this is down too the fact that their city rivals Manchester City have shot away from the rest of the league and are now 14 points in the lead over United who are in 2nd place. It seems as if United have given up the chase and let’s face it they will not claw those points back now. However at the same time any United fan and anyone associated with the club would love to see them finish 2nd if being champions was always going to be too much for them to achieve this season.

The truth is, at this point, United will have a challenge on their hands to finish in the top four. Currently they are in 2nd and have 51 points and the gap to 5th where Liverpool currently are is 8 points. The Reds have a game in hand and those points could be reduced in midweek.

Manchester United have won just once in their last 5 games and have earned just 15 points from their last 30. With their standing that just isn’t good enough. Leicester could be poised to take 2nd place from United too and they have a chasing pack of West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham to contend with. Jose Mourinho’s side do not look a threat at present being 12 points behind United but they have 2 games in hand and all could change rather quickly if teams find more consistency.

In drawing 0-0 with Crystal Palace, United also have gone their last 2 games without a goal and when one looks at their strike force including Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani one would expect better. After all Palace were not fighting for anything when the clubs met this week.

United fans will know this form isn’t just a blip, not under Solskjaer who has had a good 5 dips of form since becoming manager of the club, those dips have stretched out for two months at a time. And that form would have cost Solskjaer his job at many clubs especially a club like Chelsea which Frank Lampard found out just a few weeks ago.

So in the Europa League when United were pitted against Spanish side Real Sociedad it was thought that the club were going to struggle and could get knocked out of the competition. Sociedad had led La Liga this season for several weeks and had taken points from the bigger teams. In Portu Sociedad have their own Bruno Fernandes, a versatile attacking midfielder who also scores plenty of goals. Just last weekend his goal helped the club to take 2 points from Real Madrid away from home as that match finished 1-1. In short Sociedad are a very good side. And yet Manchester United in poor form beat Sociedad 4-0 and knocked them out of the Europa League.

It feels as if United have that fire in the belly and man for man one could say that United have the better team than Sociedad, but one would also have to agree that they thought this match up would have been very close and not settled with such a large score. In Europe in this cup competition under Solskjaer United seem to have found their footing, their place where everything clicks and they should be among the favourites to go on and win the competition.

The players seem more focused in Europe and there is a goal to reach, and perhaps domestically United understand that they need an extra push to stay in the top 4 but apart from that not much can be achieved now, but in Europe and also the FA Cup the fire in the belly remains.

United will play Milan in the quarter finals of the Europa League and should be content in the fact that this isn’t the Milan of 15 years ago. Milan are a good side of course but United over two legs, one would think, would have too much for the Italians.

But Solskjaer needs to be mindful this his side do not lose focus in the Premier League, it is a tough and competitive league that takes no prisoners. If you start to lag and stop winning you will be punished and United are not certain for a top four place. They would be foolish to put all of their eggs in one basket and go for the Europa, they need to maintain some desire to pick up points in the Premier League also.

The next few months will reveal the story more and Solskjaer will be well aware that his job despite an overall good season is far from safe.

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Milan lacklustre yet again as they just about advance from two-legged tie vs. Red Star

Milan just about clinched their spot in the last 16 of the Europa League this evening, advancing from their tie against Red Star Belgrade on away goals. After 2-2 in Serbia, the Rossoneri were hoping for a convincing win with a half-decent XI, but that ended up not being the case for them. 

It started well as Franck Kessie converted a penalty after just nine minutes, but from there on Stefano Pioli’s men struggle to assert themselves in the game. Despite the early goal, Red Star showed great mentality as they kept plugging on and eventually got paid for the efforts.  Continue reading

One foot in Europa League quarter finals but a step back in Serie A for Roma

Roma are almost in the quarter finals of the Europa League after they beat Braga of Portugal 2-0. The return leg is tonight in Italy and it is widely expected that the Giallorossi will have few problems in reaching the last 8 after their dominant display in the 1st leg.

The Europa League win was a game of a goal in the early stages and a goal at the end. Within 5 minutes of the start Leonardo Spinnazola had set up Edin Dzeko with a beautiful pass that caught out the Braga defence and Dzeko made no mistakes to put Roma in front. Dzeko has struggled to hold down a place this season and had fallen out with coach Paulo Fonseca so this goal felt like redemption for him.

Roma could have been 3 goals up within the hour if they had had some luck. A penalty appeal was rejected by a VAR review and then a goal was wiped off due to offside after another VAR review. But Roma knew that if they had a chance going into the 2nd leg against a quality side like Braga they would need to try and grab that second.

The goal finally came with just four minutes remaining but there would still be some controversy and tense moments to have it confirmed. Good work from Jordan Veretout set up Borja Mayoral to slot in an easy chance but VAR called it back for yet another possible offside. After some tense minutes the goal was given and Roma deservedly won the game 2-0. In the end Braga managed just 1 shot on target which was simply not good enough.

So the Europa League game was the good news, but the bad news was that Roma’s league title challenge could be over. The club could only draw 0-0 away to Benevento. The Giallorossi created numerous chances and again were denied a stoppage time penalty by VAR. They deserved the win this time but could only get a point. The end scenes were also chaotic as Benevento coach Filipo Inzaghi was sent off.

Roma are in 4th place with Atalanta and Lazio only one point behind them for a Champions League place. The Giallorossi have also slipped 9 points behind league leaders Inter and have Milan and Juventus in front of them. The league title isn’t quite over for them but realistically it now looks a distant hope and the focus has to be on finishing in a top 4 place.

What do the bookmakers think?

Let’s look at the two competitions that Roma are still in with a chance of winning which of course is Serie A and the Europa League. This is what the bookmakers think of Roma’s chances of winning either competition.

Serie A : 45/1

Europa League: 14/1

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Julen Lopetegui wants to usher in a new era at Sevilla

Because of their Europa League successes Sevilla are one of the most successful clubs in Europe over the last decade. But there is a feeling that the club have become more of a cup specialist team and less of a league one, and Julen Lopetegui has come in over the past year to try and change that up.

Of course winning cups is a great thing and Sevilla have achieved so much in the modern game winning 5 trophies in the last decade and, according to the official UEFA rankings they are in 9th place. That’s not bad going at all and yet of course they are not seen in same lights as Real Madrid and Barcelona and not even Atletico Madrid.

The reason is that the club do not win league titles- their last one came n 1946 and they haven’t even finished in the runners-up position since 1957. There is also the case of the other European competition, the Champions League where Sevilla have had no significant history. Even Atletico have made it to finals including two recent ones. This year highlighted Sevilla’s miserable run in the Champions League when they were knocked out at the group stages and in one game lost 4-0 at home against Chelsea.

Lopetegui is doing a steady job with Sevilla and in his first season he was able to get them to 4th place with 70 points and therefore qualify for the Champions League. Overall he has a win rate of 57% which is impressive and has lost 14 games from 73 played.

This season the club are in sixth place and are seven points adrift. They have been up and down as they do not draw many games, just 1 so far. Whilst they need to find stability no one can accuse the club of not being entertaining. The problem currently is that no one is sure what Sevilla version will turn up week by week. On their day they are capable of beating any side in La Liga.

Lopetegui has kept the people he knows close to him and that figurehead is the clubs assistant coach Pablo Sanz who used to be a product of the old Academy at Barcelona. When Lopetegui was the coach of the national side Spain, Sanz was his assistant so they know each other very well. He was also the assistant at Real Madrid at Lopetegui’s short spell at Santiago Bernabeu back in 2018.

The objective for the club is to improve each season in the league, the last season saw the club finish 4th so the objective is to finish 3rd and a possible title challenge with 2-3 years although whether that is realistic or not is another story altogether.

However the club have always had some quality within their ranks and below we look at the best 3 players currently playing for the club this season based on fantasy rankings points.

Bono- Goalkeeper

Bono’s value is 6.5m and he currently has the most points of any Sevilla player with 19 so far. Bono’s job is of course to keep clean sheets and he has done so on 3 occasions so far. He is 5th in the goalkeeper rankings for La Liga overall.

Youssef En-Nesyri- Striker

Youssef En Nesyri has scored 3 goals so far but is yet to assist and has 12 points so far. He has only managed to start six games so has a 50% striker rate which is good and his value is 6.5m.

Sergio Escudero- Defender

Sergio Escudero has helped keep 2 clean sheets he has also scored a goal and his value is 6m and so far he has earned 12 points.

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