Manchester United, still grieving the loss of the great Sir Bobby Charlton, will host Copenhagen of Denmark at Old Trafford on Tuesday in their Group A matchup in the Champions League. This could be their third consecutive Champions League match.
Erik ten Hag‘s men remain without a single point in the section after two matches, while their visitors sit one point and one place better off than their more esteemed hosts.
Match preview
Man United’s five goals in the first two matchdays of the 2023–24 Champions League have been more than any other fourth-place team’s total. However, with defensive flaws starting to show, the Red Devils’ journey back to the big time has not been easy so far.
Ten Hag’s team can be forgiven for losing to the reigning German champions Bayern Munich, but after an embarrassing 3-2 home loss to Galatasaray—where Rasmus Hojlund’s brace was in vain as the Turkish team took advantage of the Red Devils’ continued weaknesses through Wilfried Zaha, Kerem Akturkoglu, and Mauro Icardi—it is possible to push the panic button.
Man United has lost their last three European football championship games and is now without a win in five straight. In addition, even though they have recently defeated Sheffield United and Brentford, they are still playing a deceptive domestic schedule.
Though neither of Man United’s 2-1 victories was entirely convincing, and it required a Diogo Dalot special to sink the Blades on a depressing Saturday night, the right-back’s incredible goal means that Man United can now win three straight games for the first time since May.
Despite the fact that Man United needs a maximum to move up into the top two spots in Group A, three of their last five games at Old Trafford have ended in defeat, so Copenhagen can legitimately hope for a midweek hammering.
Securing Superliga title number 15 last season, Copenhagen’s domestic dominance is unsurprisingly yet to translate into a deep run in the Champions League, but Jacob Neestrup‘s side can pat themselves on the back for their efforts in Group A so far.
An opening 2-2 draw with Galatasaray was certainly two points dropped rather than one gained for Copenhagen, who led until the 86th minute before the Turkish outfit completed a remarkable turnaround, and a similar story befell them during the visit of Bayern Munich to their Scandinavian headquarters on matchday two.
Despite drawing first blood through Lukas Lerager, Neestrup’s men succumbed to subsequent efforts from Jamal Musiala and Mathys Tel to occupy third place in the fledgling standings, but it was Copenhagen’s turn to come from behind in a 2-1 Superliga success over Vejle on Saturday.
That narrow victory snapped a disheartening three-game winless run for the Danish champions, who head to Old Trafford with an astounding 14-game unbeaten run on the road to protect, while their scoring streak away from home also stands at 16 consecutive fixtures.
Man United won both of their matches against Copenhagen in the 2006–07 Champions League group stage before falling to them 1-0 away from home. In the 2019–20 Europa League quarterfinals, however, Bruno Fernandes’ penalty kick in the 95th minute proved to be the difference as the Red Devils won by the identical score.
Team News
As Dries Mertens latched onto a poor pass from Andre Onana, Casemiro had little choice but to bring the Belgian down inside the box and was sent for an early bath for his troubles, ruling the Brazilian out of the visit of Copenhagen through suspension.
Casemiro sat out the win over Sheffield United due to a blow to the ankle anyway, and he is joined on the absentee list by Amad Diallo (knee), Lisandro Martinez (foot), Jadon Sancho (disciplinary), Kobbie Mainoo (ankle), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (muscle), Tyrell Malacia (knee), and Luke Shaw (muscle), but there is optimism that Sergio Reguilon will recover from his hamstring niggle.
Harry Maguire more than justified his inclusion in the first XI against Sheffield United and can feel hopeful of retaining his spot in the backline here, but it would be a surprise not to see Raphael Varane return in place of Jonny Evans.
While Casemiro has incurred a suspension, Copenhagen will welcome defender Elias Jelert back from a continental ban served in the loss to Bayern, but Lerager and Birger Meling are now one caution away from sitting out a game themselves.
In any case, Meling was a first-half casualty of Copenhagen’s Superliga victory at the weekend, and Neestrup has conceded that he does not expect the left-back to play again before the November international break; Christian Sorensen should step in.
The Danish champions are missing out on William Clem (broken leg), Noah Sahsah (knee), and Nicolai Boilesen (unspecified). The weekend’s matchwinner, Mohamed Elyounoussi, will return to England soon after leaving relegated Southampton over the summer.
Oscar Hojlund, an 18-year-old midfielder, will play alongside his elder brother Rasmus Hojlund on Tuesday night, but the younger man will likely start on the bench for Copenhagen.
Manchester United’s possible starting lineup:
Onana; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Reguilon; Eriksen, McTominay; Antony, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund
Copenhagen possible starting lineup:
Grabara; Jelert, Diks, Vavro, Sorensen; Lerager, Falk, Claesson; Achouri, Larsson, Elyounoussi
We say: Manchester United 2-1 Copenhagen
The Copenhagen team, who are notoriously difficult to beat away from home, has so far gone head-to-head with their Group A rivals and is rarely defeated in the last third, so Man United may be in for another uncomfortable evening.
The Red Devils still have goal threats from all over the field, so we have faith in Ten Hag’s team to finally start winning in the Champions League, even though it might not be very pretty. However, a lack of recovery time will not help either manager.
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