Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Europa League clash between Lyon and Manchester United, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Still harbouring hopes of winning the Europa League to end a miserable season on a high, Manchester United travel to France to face Lyon at Groupama Stadium in the first leg of their quarter-final tie on Thursday night.
The two teams have previously met on four occasions in the Champions League, last doing so back in 2008 when the Red Devils won the competition, but this contest represents their first encounter in the Europa League.
Match preview
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Five days after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, Man United played out a dull and disappointing goalless stalemate with rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday – a lacklustre contest in which neither side covered themselves in glory.
Ruben Amorim has suggested that fans should not have expected a reprise of the iconic derbies of the past, given where the two struggling teams on the red and blue sides of Manchester are at the moment, but Red Devil supporters still expect far more from a side Amorim claims is “improving”.
European qualification via the Premier League is an unrealistic target for Man United, who are on course for their worst-ever season in the division as they are currently languishing in 13th place with just 38 points from 31 matches, seven points behind the top half of the table.
Europa League glory is still up for grabs, though, and Man United are still the only team in this season’s competition who are yet to taste defeat (W6 D4), most recently beating Real Sociedad 5-2 on aggregate in the last 16, with captain Bruno Fernandes netting a superb hat-trick in a 4-1 second-leg victory last month.
Man United have in fact lost just one of their last 21 Europa League games – a 3-0 defeat at Sevilla in April 2023 which is the only time during this run that they have failed to score – while the Red Devils have not lost any of their last 11 first-leg knockout ties in Europe since losing 1-0 to Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League.
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Since enduring a seven-game winless run in all competitions between mid-January and the beginning of February, Lyon have won seven of their last 10 matches, including six of their last seven in which they have scored 19 goals in the process.
Les Gones bounced back from a 4-2 Ligue 1 defeat at Strasbourg to win 2-1 at home to Lille on Saturday, with goals either side of half time from ex-Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette and Rayan Cherki helping them come from behind to claim maximum points.
While head coach Paulo Fonseca continues to serve a nine-month ban for angrily confronting a referee, assistant Jorge Maciel is tasked with leading Lyon from the touchline and currently sees his team sitting fifth in the Ligue 1 standings, just two points behind the top three and automatic Champions League qualification spots with six games remaining.
After finishing sixth in the 36-team Europa League table earlier this season, three places below Man United, before thrashing FCSB 7-1 on aggregate in the last 16, Lyon are now bidding to reach the semi-finals of a major European competition for the first time since the 2019-20 Champions League.
However, Lyon have never beaten Man United in four previous attempts and let leads slip to draw both home encounters in September 2004 (2-2) and February 2008 (1-1); Les Gones have only faced La Liga giants Barcelona (eight) on more occasions without ever winning in Europe. Meanwhile, they have also lost each of their last three two-legged ties against English opponents.
Lyon Europa League form:
Lyon form (all competitions):
Manchester United Europa League form:
Manchester United form (all competitions):
Team News
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Lyon have suffered a major injury blow before Thursday’s clash as winger Ernest Nuamah is ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury sustained in the opening seven minutes of last weekend’s win over Lille. Malick Fofana is also sidelined with a knee problem.
Nuamah was replaced by in-demand attacker Cherki, who has recorded nine goals and 18 assists in 36 games this season – including eight assists in 10 Europa League matches – and he is expected to join Thiago Almada and either Lacazette or Georges Mikautadze in the final third.
Former Man United midfielder Nemanja Matic is set to play alongside Corentin Tolisso and Tanner Tessmann in midfield, while ex-Arsenal man Ainsley Maitland-Niles should keep his spot at right-back, joining Clinton Mata, Moussa Niakhate and either Nicolas Tagliafico or Abner Vinicius in the back four.
As for Man United, Lisandro Martinez (knee), Amad Diallo, Ayden Heaven (both ankle) and Jonny Evans (back) all remain sidelined with injuries, while Matthijs de Ligt (ankle) and Kobbie Mainoo (calf) will be assessed ahead of kickoff, the latter of whom has returned to training.
Luke Shaw is available for selection after four months out with a troublesome hamstring injury, but Patrick Dorgu is expected to retain his spot at left wing-back, while Harry Maguire is fit to continue at centre-back despite coming off early in the Manchester derby.
Mason Mount is another in contention to be involved and could feature in midfield or in the final third. Alejandro Garnacho is likely to retain his spot in attack, even though he has scored just one goal in his last 27 games for Man United, while Amorim will weigh up whether to stick with Rasmus Hojlund up front or recall Joshua Zirkzee.
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Perri; Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico; Tessmann, Matic; Cherki, Tolisso, Almada; Mikautadze
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro; Dalot, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dorgu; Fernandes, Garnacho; Zirkzee
We say: Lyon 1-1 Manchester United
While at least three goals have been scored in each off Lyon’s last four matches, Man United’s recent games have been tighter with more than three goals scored in just two of their last seven fixtures, making Thursday’s encounter a difficult one to predict.
Lyon are enjoying a better run of form at present and have particularly excelled on home soil, but they have looked vulnerable at times at the back, while Man United have had success in the Europa League this term so they may find a way to claim at least a share of the spoils to keep the tie nicely poised ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
