Charlie Nicholas is of the opinion that Manchester United won’t be able to beat Astana in their Europa League fixture tomorrow.
The Red Devils are through to the last 32 of the competition and the final two fixtures are mere formalities for them. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has chosen a very young squad that will travel to Kazakhstan to play Astana who are already out of the competition.
Manchester United won their home leg at Old Trafford thanks to a second half goal from Mason Greenwood but Nicholas feels that tomorrow’s fixture will end in a 1-1 draw. In his column for Sky Sports, the pundit wrote: “Everyone is talking about managers under pressure. On Saturday, when the football had finished, we said Marco Silva could be out and Manuel Pellegrini and Unai Emery could soon follow.
“A 10-minute performance has kept Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hanging by a thread. Can he get any consistency from the youngsters? What is his best partnership in defence? I don’t know. Phil Jones isn’t the answer. Harry Maguire has struggled and they do not look a team at the moment. Even with the energy at the moment, they missed presence of Scott McTominay. These grounds are awkward to get results from but this will be another one of those nights for Manchester United.”
Given the Red Devils and the fact that Astana are hosting, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if tomorrow’s fixture ends in a draw. Manchester United are already through and their remaining group games could be a fine platform to test the youngsters.
After the match against Astana, Solskjaer’s lads play Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday.
