Manchester United will welcome Benfica at Old Trafford on Tuesday night in the Champions League Group Stage match. In the previous match of Champions League group stage match, Manchester United had visited Benfica and the match had ended with Manchester United being victorious with a lone goal of Marcus Rashford.
Manchester United had suffered a shock defeat against Huddersfield Town in Premier League after the match against Benfica. They had regained their form in the last 2 matches as they had won against Swansea City with a 2-0 margin and got a victory against a tough Spurs side with a winner from Anthony Martial. These two results will surely boost up their confidence level for the match against Benfica.
On the other hand, Benfica had also won their two matches in Portuguese Primeira Liga against Feirense and Desportivo das Aves. They are now in 3rd position in the League Table in Portuguese Primeira Liga with 23 points from 10 games so far. But in Champions League Group Stage they had lost all 3 games. So they will try to win the match against Manchester United anyhow to stay in the contention for qualifying to the next round.
Team News :
Manchester United :
Maruoane Fellaini, Paul Pogba, Carrick will also be in the absentees’ list. Marcos Rojo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are recovering from injury, but still not fit to start a match, though they should be back soon.
De Gea will start at Manchester United Goal. Blind and Valencia will play as two side backs. Smalling will play alongside Jones, as the duo will pair up in the central defense while Herrera and Matic will be given the duty of two defensive midfielders. Mata and Mkhitaryan will supply the ball to Lukaku and Rashford who will lead United from the upfront.
Benfica :
Benfica will be missing some key stars like Andre Almeida, Jardel and Rafa Silva due to injuries. Svilar will start at Goal for them. Douglas, Luisao, Dias and Grimaldo will be defending for Benfica. Zivkovic,Pizzi,Fejsa and Cervi will start in the midfield while Jonas and Jimenez will lead their forward line from the upfront.
Possible Starting Eleven :
Manchester United:
Goalkeeper : De Gea
Defenders : Valencia, Smalling, Jones, Blind.
Midfielders : Herrera, Matic,Mata, Mkhitaryan.
Attackers : Lukaku, Rashford.
Benfica :(4-4-2)
Goalkeeper : Svilar
Defenders : Douglas, Luisao, Dias, Grimaldo
Midfielders : Zivkovic, Pizzi, Fejsa, Cervi.
Attackers : Jonas, Jimenez.
My Score Prediction :
Manchester United 2-0 Benfica
The Editor’s View:
It is certain that the Red Devils’ attention will be elsewhere, as they try their best to focus on the game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League at the weekend. Also, the Manchester based side are quite comfortably on top of the points table in their current group and they do not have anything to worry about, as far as qualification to the next round is concerned.
However, it is a fact that Mourinho does not like to lose and the Portuguese manager will be focused on how he can get the best result, not just from this fixture, but from the games in the top flight of English football.
United will be hoping to challenge for the league title and the Champions League as well, with the team looking to win and lift as many titles as possible.
