Valencia vs Manchester United Preview:
Probable starting lineups:
Valencia:
Neto, Piccini, Diakhaby, Garay, Lato, Guedes, Kondogbia, Parejo, Soler, Mina, Batshuayi
Manchester United:
Romero, Valencia, Rojo, Bailly, Darmian, Rashford, Fellaini, Fred, Pogba, Mata, Lukaku
The situation in Group H is clear - Juventus and Manchester United have secured the Champions League knock-out stage. Valencia have nothing to play for, they are safe on the third position and will continue in Europe League. However, every point in the group stage is valuable - UEFA gives 2.7 million Euros ($3.15 million) per win and 900,000 Euros ($1.05 million) per draw. It is clear there will be lot of motives on both sides. Valencia are not in best form in the last period. They have just one victory in the last four matches across all competitions, managing only to beat lower-league side of Ebro with 1:0 in the Copa del Rey. On Saturday they played an 1:1 draw with Sevilla at Mestalla. Mouctar Diakhaby's stoppage-time header rescue a point for Valencia. Nevertheless, Sevilla played much better during the whole match and missed several good opportunities. That is why Valencia fans whistled their team at the end of the game, disappointed with their ninth draw of the season which left them 15th in the standings. The bad form isn't the only problem for the hosts as Jose Gaya is suspended, while three more players should be very careful - Daniel Parejo, Carlos Soler and Geoffrey Kondogbia are one booking away from a suspension. Central defender Gabriel Paulista was forced off with an injury and is unlikely to feature on this match. Cristiano Piccini, Kevin Gameiro and Jeison Murillo are also struggling with injury and the are rated as doubtful.
This season is yet another disappointment for Manchester United fans. The Red Devils are massive 16 points behind the leaders Liverpool and the frustrations have raised. Manager Jose Mourinho came under enormous pressure, though his position looks safe at the moment. As I wrote above, the Red Devils have secured the progress. They did the job in the previous round, getting the victory needed to go through when entertaining Young Boys at Old Trafford thanks to Marouane Fellaini's goal in the 91st minute of the match. Mourinho slammed water bottles into the ground in an expression of 'relief' at that result. On Saturday United recorded their biggest Premier League victory of the season as they beat Fulham with 4:1. Mourinho's players were extremely motivated and that's why the Cottagers manager Claudio Ranieri described the match as "11 lambs against 11 wolves". Marcus Rashford was the 'Player of Match' having been directly involved in three goals (scored one and assisted two). I believe the atmosphere in the squad is much better now. Mourinho will probably rest his key players from this match. In addition, Victor Lindelof and Alexis Sanchez are sidelined through injury, while few more players (Matteo Darmian, Eric Bailly, Anthony Martial and Chris Smalling) are rated as doubtful.
Valencia vs Manchester United Prediction:
Both coaches, Marcelino from Valencia and Mourinho from Manchester United, will likely make wholesale changes with an eye on the weekend's clashes in domestic leagues (Valencia will travel Eibar, while Manchester United play the big derby with Liverpool). However, I think that this will be an open match, so I expect at least three goals. There is no pressure on the players.
Valencia vs Manchester United Pick: Over 2.5 goals
Probable starting lineups:
Valencia:
Neto, Piccini, Diakhaby, Garay, Lato, Guedes, Kondogbia, Parejo, Soler, Mina, Batshuayi
Manchester United:
Romero, Valencia, Rojo, Bailly, Darmian, Rashford, Fellaini, Fred, Pogba, Mata, Lukaku
The situation in Group H is clear - Juventus and Manchester United have secured the Champions League knock-out stage. Valencia have nothing to play for, they are safe on the third position and will continue in Europe League. However, every point in the group stage is valuable - UEFA gives 2.7 million Euros ($3.15 million) per win and 900,000 Euros ($1.05 million) per draw. It is clear there will be lot of motives on both sides. Valencia are not in best form in the last period. They have just one victory in the last four matches across all competitions, managing only to beat lower-league side of Ebro with 1:0 in the Copa del Rey. On Saturday they played an 1:1 draw with Sevilla at Mestalla. Mouctar Diakhaby's stoppage-time header rescue a point for Valencia. Nevertheless, Sevilla played much better during the whole match and missed several good opportunities. That is why Valencia fans whistled their team at the end of the game, disappointed with their ninth draw of the season which left them 15th in the standings. The bad form isn't the only problem for the hosts as Jose Gaya is suspended, while three more players should be very careful - Daniel Parejo, Carlos Soler and Geoffrey Kondogbia are one booking away from a suspension. Central defender Gabriel Paulista was forced off with an injury and is unlikely to feature on this match. Cristiano Piccini, Kevin Gameiro and Jeison Murillo are also struggling with injury and the are rated as doubtful.
This season is yet another disappointment for Manchester United fans. The Red Devils are massive 16 points behind the leaders Liverpool and the frustrations have raised. Manager Jose Mourinho came under enormous pressure, though his position looks safe at the moment. As I wrote above, the Red Devils have secured the progress. They did the job in the previous round, getting the victory needed to go through when entertaining Young Boys at Old Trafford thanks to Marouane Fellaini's goal in the 91st minute of the match. Mourinho slammed water bottles into the ground in an expression of 'relief' at that result. On Saturday United recorded their biggest Premier League victory of the season as they beat Fulham with 4:1. Mourinho's players were extremely motivated and that's why the Cottagers manager Claudio Ranieri described the match as "11 lambs against 11 wolves". Marcus Rashford was the 'Player of Match' having been directly involved in three goals (scored one and assisted two). I believe the atmosphere in the squad is much better now. Mourinho will probably rest his key players from this match. In addition, Victor Lindelof and Alexis Sanchez are sidelined through injury, while few more players (Matteo Darmian, Eric Bailly, Anthony Martial and Chris Smalling) are rated as doubtful.
Valencia vs Manchester United Prediction:
Both coaches, Marcelino from Valencia and Mourinho from Manchester United, will likely make wholesale changes with an eye on the weekend's clashes in domestic leagues (Valencia will travel Eibar, while Manchester United play the big derby with Liverpool). However, I think that this will be an open match, so I expect at least three goals. There is no pressure on the players.
Valencia vs Manchester United Pick: Over 2.5 goals
