Manchester United will be back in UEFA Europa League action this evening as they welcome Partizan Belgrade to Old Trafford. A fortnight ago, United beat Partizan in Belgrade 1-0 with Anthony Martial scoring a penalty in the 43rd minute of the match. It was United third game in the group and their second victory, drawing with AZ Alkmaar weeks before.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has changed the form of his team after the last international break, drawing 1-1 with Liverpool at Old Trafford, then beating Partizan (1-0), Norwich City (3-1) and Chelsea (2-1) before falling to a lack lustre 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth at the weekend. Solskjaer will need to get his team back to winning ways, which could also see United reach the round of 32 stage of the tournament.
It would be fair to say that United has not had a great amount of luck this season, added to injuries, which saw Martial out for eight weeks and other important players facing time on the sidelines. Selling Romelu Lukaku may not be seen as a mistake, as supporters had stated that they wanted to see the back of him, however, not replacing him in the summer transfer window will be seen as a mistake.
Manchester United:
Romero;
Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Rojo, Young;
McTominay, Fred;
Greenwood, Mata, Rashford;
Martial
Substitutes:
Grant; Jones, Williams; Lingard, Pereira, James, Garner
Partizan Belgrade:
Stojkovic;
Miletic, Ostojic, Pavlovic, Urosevic;
Natkho, Zdjelar, Scekic, Asano;
Soumah, Sadiq
Substitutes:
Stevanovic, Vujacic, Tosic, Ivanovic, Brezancic, Lutovac
United and Partizan Belgrade have played three times in the history of both clubs. United has won twice, losing the other match. The first match came in 1966 in the European Cup, a match played at the Partizan Stadium with ended up being a 2-0 defeat to United, despite the likes of Harry Gregg, Bill Foulkes, Paddy Crerand, Nobby Styles, George Best, and Denis Law all playing.
Just a week later, United won 1-0 at Old Trafford with Styles scoring the goal but it saw United eliminated from the competition just eight years after the Munich Air Disaster. United would be European champions two years later though, a decade after the tragedy. A fortnight ago, United beat Partizan 1-0 in Belgrade with Anthony Martial scoring a penalty.
