Real Sociedad and Manchester United face off in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) for the third time in just five seasons, with the first leg of this last-16 tie being played at the Reale Arena.
Sociedad beat Midtjylland 6-3 on aggregate in the knockout play-off round to reach this stage of the competition, while United qualified automatically after finishing third in the league phase.
The hosts are not in the best form having lost their last two games domestically without scoring, albeit against Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona. United themselves have only won once in four matches, and were knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties by Fulham last time out.
Nonetheless, this is a tough one to call, with both teams fairly evenly-matched based on their most recent meetings – the previous four have seen United win twice, Sociedad once and one draw.
How the bookies view it: Sociedad win backed
BoyleSports have Sociedad as 21/20 favourites to win the first leg at home, while a draw is valued at 21/10 and a United win at 5/2.
Recent head-to-head: United edged close affair
The two teams last met in the UEL group stage in 2022, with United narrowly winning 1-0 away from home. Alejandro Garnacho got the only goal of the game.
Sociedad actually won the reverse fixture 1-0 too, with Brais Mendez netting from the penalty spot. Given he has had five goal contributions (two goals and three assists) in this year's competition already, you can back him to add another by scoring anytime at 10/3 with BoyleSports.
Players to watch: England-linked Zubimendi will worry United
Various reports have suggested that Martin Zubimendi could be on his way to Arsenal this summer, and United will catch an early glimpse of him in this tie. The midfielder was also strongly linked to the Red Devils' bitter rivals Liverpool last summer.
All eyes will be on Joshua Zirkzee for the visitors, after he missed the decisive penalty for United as they crashed out of the FA Cup to Fulham.
Predicted lineups
Luka Sucic could miss the game for Sociedad with injury, while they will be hoping that captain Mikel Oyarzabal will be ready to start after a recent lay-off.
Harry Maguire needs to be assessed after hobbling off against Fulham, while Lisandro Martinez, Jonny Evans, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Amad Diallo, Toby Collyer and Altay Bayindir are all still injured. Patrick Dorgu could return to the starting line-up after being suspended domestically.
Real Sociedad: Remiro, Lopez, Aguerd, Zubeldia, Arambru, Zubimendi, Marin, Mendez, Kubo, Barrenetxea, Oyarzabal.
Manchester United: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Yoro, Dalot, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dorgu, Zirkzee, Garnacho, Hojlund.
Anything else catch the eye?
None of the last four H2Hs have seen both teams score, and BoyleSports are offering 10/11 odds on Both Teams to Score (BTTS): No. Just six goals were scored cross those four games too at an average of 1.5 per match, so Under 1.5 Total Goals at 2/1 looks like a good punt from BoyleSports.
This UEFA Europa League match between Real Sociedad and Manchester United will be played on and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Real Sociedad vs Manchester United prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
