Manchester United host Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League at Old Trafford on Thursday night. The Red Devils started their European campaign with a 1-0 defeat at Dutch side Feyenoord after Jose Mourinho made a number of changes to his starting line-up.
The Portuguese boss has already stated that Europe’s secondary competition is not his team’s priority this season, as attempting to win the Premier League title is the club's main focus.
Mourinho is not the first boss of an English club to dismiss the value of the competition, as it seems to be commonplace for English teams to field weakened teams in this competition.
The former Chelsea boss is likely to once again make big changes to his starting line-up in this clash. Captain Wayne Rooney was dropped to the substitute’s bench for the Red Devils 4-1 win over Leicester on Saturday.
The England captain is likely to start this game and will be hoping to impress Mourinho and return to the starting line-up for future Premier League games.
The Red Devils have claimed consecutive wins in all competitions, as have Zorya who kicked off their Europa League campaign with a 1-1 draw against Turkish side Fenerbahce. The Ukrainian side are enjoying a decent campaign and are currently sitting second in their domestic league.
Zorya’s last away game was a trip to traditional Ukrainian powerhouse Dynamo Kiev, with the visitors recording an impressive 1-0 win. For Manchester United the opponents with not be familiar, even in the internet age.
When the draw was made United boss Mourinho admitted he knew little about the Ukrainian side. The Ukrainian side are the closest thing that United are going to get to an unknown package in European football.
The Red Devils will be expected to win this clash with ease, even with a rotated team, but Zorya are unlikely to be easy opponents and could cause United some major problems.