Manchester United will look to claim their first win at the fourth attempt in this season’s Europa League when they play host to PAOK at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
The Red Devils, who are among the favourites to win the competition, have drawn each of their opening three league phase assignments.
That three point haul has them languishing in 21st place in the standings, so they will be keen to start climbing the table with a view to securing automatic qualification for the round of 16.
United head into this clash off the back of a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday, in a game that brought up both of my Old Trafford tips.
As for PAOK, they kicked off their Europa League campaign with back-to-back defeats against both Galatasaray and FCSB, before picking up their first point when drawing 2-2 with Viktoria Plzen.
Razvan Lucescu’s side moved up to second place in the Greek Super League by coming from behind to beat Lamia 2-1 on Sunday.
How the bookies view it: Red Devils to deliver
Manchester United are massive 2/9 favourites with Betano to bank all three points at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
PAOK pitch up in Manchester as unfancied 9/1 (Betano) underdogs while a second Europa League stalemate in succession involving the Greek outfit is available at 19/4 (Betano).
Head to head: A first-ever encounter
Manchester United and PAOK will cross paths for the first time ever on Thursday night. David Moyes was in charge of United when they last came up against Greek opposition, with the Scotsman overseeing a 3-0 win over Olympiakos that sent the Red Devils into the last-eight of the Champions League back in 2014.
Players to watch: Bruno to land another blow?
Each of Bruno Fernandes’ three goals for Manchester United this season have been scored under interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy’s watch. The United captain is 39/20 (UniBet) to notch for the third game running on Thursday night.
Giannis Konstantelias has committed a combined total of four fouls across his three Europa League appearances for PAOK this season, making him an appealing option to give away two or more free-kicks at Old Trafford at 7/4 (PaddyPower).
Predicted line-ups
As was the case on Sunday, Man United once again look set to be without Antony, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Maino, Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Tyrell Malacia.
Former Chelsea man Tiemoue Bakayoko is an injury doubt after missing each of PAOK’s last two matches.
Manchester United: Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Evans, Martínez; Ugarte, Casemiro; Rashford, Fernandes, Garnacho; Zirkzee.
PAOK: Kotarski; Castro, Kedziora, Lovren, Rahman; Shwab, Camara; Zivkovic, Konstantelias, Taison; Tissoudali
Anything else catch the eye?
With United simply unbackable at the above-mentioned odds, I’ll head to the Bet Builder market and merge a home win alongside the aforementioned Fernandes to score or assist at 4/5 (PaddyPower).
Caretaker boss van Nistelrooy will be desperate to sign off with a pair of victories and the Red Devils should put PAOK to the sword.
With Fernandes enjoying a purple patch in front of goal at present, backing the Portuguese ace to register a goal involvement seems a sensible way to engineer a home win at backable price.
This UEFA Europa League match between Manchester United and PAOK will be played on Nov 7, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Manchester United vs PAOK prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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