Omonia Nicosia -v- Manchester United
UEFA Europa League
GSP Stadium, Nicosia
Thursday 6 October 2022, KO 17:45 BST
Manchester United travel to face Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening in what will be United’s third group stage match of the competition this season. United have a defeat to Real Sociedad and a win against Sheriff so far this season.
United were beaten 6-3 at the hands of Manchester City on Sunday in a match which saw both Phil Foden and Erling Haaland both score hat-tricks. United were 4-0 down at half time and were out of the match. However, a goal from Antony and a brace from Anthony Martial gave United fight.
It will be important for United to hit back against Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League on Thursday evening to get over that debacle against City before they visit Goodison Park to face Everton in the Premier League on Sunday evening – another must win match for United and Erik ten Hag.
Manchester United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Manchester City 6-3 L, FC Sheriff Tiraspol 2-0 W, Real Sociedad 1-0 L, Arsenal 3-1 W, Leicester City 1-0 W, Southampton 1-0 W
Goals: 3 – Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, 2 – Antony, Anthony Martial, 1 – Bruno Fernandes, Own Goal, Cristiano Ronaldo
Assists: 3 – Christian Eriksen, 2 – Marcus Rashford, 1 – Diogo Dalot, Anthony Elanga, Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial
Omonia Nicosia – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Doxa 2-0 W, Paralimni 4-0 W, Real Sociedad 2-1 L, Apollon 2-1 L, Sheriff 3-0 L, AEK Larnaca 3-2 W
Goals: 5 – Bruno, 2 – Charalampos Charalampous, Roman Bezus, 1 – Karim Ansarifard, Brandon Barker, Andronikos Kakoullis, Nemanja Miletic, Fotis Papoulis, Panagiotis Zachariou
Assists: 3 – Jan Lecjaks, 2 – Karim Ansarifard, Bruno, Andronikos Kakoullis, 1 – Roman Bezus, Adam Matthews, Fotis Papoulis, Héctor Yuste
Previous Meetings & Connections
This will be the first time that United have met Omonia Nicosia in the history of both clubs. In fact, United have only played one match in Cyprus with Maccabi Haifa and United meeting in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League back in 2002.
United beat the Israeli club 5-2 at Old Trafford with goals scored by Ryan Giggs, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Juan Sebastian Veron, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan. The Haifa goals were scored by Yaniv Katan and Rafi Cohen.
In Cyprus, the match was played at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia, where the match will be played on Thursday evening. United lost 3-0 with Katan, Raimondas Zutautas and Yakubu Ayegbeni scoring the goals. United will be hoping that this match will bring a better result in Cyprus.
Team News
Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire and Donny van de Beek all seem to be ruled out of the trip to Cyprus ahead of Thursday’s third UEFA Europa League group stage match. Martin Dubravka is currently a doubt after returning early from the international break.
Tyler Fredricson, Zidane Iqbal, Kobbie Mainoo, Shola Shoretire and Charlie McNeill have all recently been added to the Europa League squad this season, so there could well be some talented youth players in action in this match or in the coming weeks.
Omonia Nicosia do not have any obvious injury concerns ahead of the clash with United on Thursday. This will be the first time the two sides have met and Omonia are still seeking their win in the Europa League this season and United will be looking to bounce back from the City defeat.
Predicted Manchester United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
De Gea;
Dalot, Lindelof, Martinez, Shaw;
Casemiro, Eriksen;
Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho;
Martial
Predicted Omonia Nicosia Starting XI – 4-5-2
Fabiano;
Miletic, Yuste, Panagiotou;
Psaltis, Cassama, Diskerud, Bachirou, Kitsos;
Loizou, Ansarifard
Match Prediction
United will need to get points on the board in this match in Cyprus on Thursday evening. With one win and one defeat so far in the competition this season, getting another three points in the bag will be necessary to make their participation in the knockout stages likelier this season.
After the 6-3 defeat to City on Sunday in the Premier League, Ten Hag will be seeking to get a morale boosting victory under their belts in this first ever match against Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus. United will need that boost after the battering the team got at the hands of City.
It was good that United halved the deficit against City, which shows that at least in the second half, the players had some fight to make an impact and get something from the game, even if they did not get any points for that. City are a completely different team this season and now United know that.
Omonia Nicosia 0-2 Manchester United
Written by John Walker
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