David De Gea Man United
David De Gea Man United

Man United will have the chance to win their first major silverware under the reign of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the Red Devils take on Villarreal in the Europa League final in midweek.

Finally, United have broken their voodoo of bowing out in the semi-final stages in recent seasons and now a major trophy is required to prove that the club are actually making progress under their Norwegian boss.

Man United have been in stellar form ever since they were knocked out of the Champions League earlier this season and they have already beaten big sides such as AC Milan and AS Roma en route to the final.

Villarreal though have not tasted defeat in their last four matches against Manchester United in all competitions and their manager Unai Emery knows a lot about the OT outfit from his time in the Premier League. So, Ole will have to be really careful when selecting his team as well as his tactics for the final.

The last four matches between the two sides have all finished 0-0 but on Wednesday we are bound to have a result. And if Man United can overcome the few injury setbacks which they have, the English side are undoubtedly the favourites to win in Gdansk.

Man United team news vs Villarreal:

David De Gea was brilliant during the semi-final a couple of weeks ago and since Dean Henderson started on Sunday vs Wolves, there’s no doubt De Gea will be coming back infront of goal.

The biggest concern for the manager will be with the fitness of Harry Maguire who picked up an injury a fortnight ago. The central defender has been named in the travelling squad but Solskjaer has made it clear that Maguire could be an absentee.

The manager said last Tuesday: “Harry, we are working on. It doesn’t look great.”

If Maguire cannot make it then either Eric Bailly or Axel Tuanzebe will start in central defence alongside Victor Lindelof. Given how injury prone Bailly is, many experts believe Tuanzebe might get the nod on Wednesday.

The Man United boss rested most of his first-team players on Sunday and all of them are going to return to the starting line-up in midweek.

Fred, McTominay will come into midfield, replacing Nemanja Matic and Donny van de Beek while Bruno Fernandes will reprise his No 10 role from Juan Mata.

Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba were also rested against Wolves so they will come back into the side – featuring as the two wide forwards. Mason Greenwood has been in top form in the past couple of months but with Edinson Cavani available, the youngster will have the watch from the bench.

UPDATE:

The manager has confirmed that Harry Maguire is not going to start against Villarreal.

Solskjaer said in his press conference: “Harry is just going to jog up and down the sidelines [in training]. I reckon he’ll try to join in a bit.”

Man United’s predicted XI vs Villarreal:

Predicted Starting Line-up: De Gea; Luke Shaw, Wan-Bissaka, Bailly/Taunzebe, Lindelof; Fred, McTominay, Bruno Fernandes; Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani.

Man United predicted XI vs Villarreal

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