Man United are taking on Astana in their Europa League group stage opener tonight, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side look to start their 2019/20 European campaign off in style.
The Red Devils are playing host to Astana tonight, a team that hail all the way from Kazakhstan, as they look to being their Europa League campaign with a win.
For the match, manager Solskjaer named a rather inexperienced line-up, with all of Tahith Chong, Mason Greenwood and Angel Gomes all claiming starts tonight.
This decision from the Norwegian looks to be a smart one, as at the time of writing, United are currently winning 1-0 against tonight’s opponents, with forward Greenwood bagging the only goal of the game thus far.
Following Solskjaer’s decision to include Chong, Greenwood and Gomes in his starting XI, the former Cardiff boss became the first Red Devils manager in 10 years to start three teenagers in the same European game as per Opta.
3 – Manchester United are handing starts to three teenagers against Astana (Greenwood, Chong and Gomes); their most in a Europa League/Champions League game since November 2009 against Besiktas (Welbeck, Macheda and Rafael). Future. #MNUAST pic.twitter.com/biPjAAAjus
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 19, 2019
Should United end up winning this match, Solskjaer choosing to start these teenagers will end up being a wise decision from the Norwegian, as the United boss has been able to rest his better, more experienced stars for their trip to West Ham on the weekend.
Seems like putting your faith in the youth may be the best bet after all…