We have reached the quarter-final stage of the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League and on Thursday the 8th of April we have a meeting between Granada and Manchester United.
The match will be played at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes and is the first leg of the tie, with the winner progressing on aggregate.
Granada come into the game having suffered a 3-0 loss at home against Villarreal in La Liga on the weekend. It was a disappointing result and leaves Granada in 9th place in the league, 9 points adrift of 7th place Real Sociedad.
That result means Granada have lost each of their last 3 matches in all competitions, with the other defeats coming against Valencia in La Liga and Molde in the Europa League, both of which were away from home.
However, the defeat against Villarreal was Granada’s first in 5 home fixtures, with each of the other 4 games ending in victory. Two of those matches were played in the Europa League and Granada recorded victories over Napoli and Molde.
Trends show Granada are undefeated in 5 of their last 6 home Europa League games. They have seen under 2.5 goals scored in each of their last 3 Europa League matches played at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes.
Manchester United travel to Spain having picked up maximum points in a 2-1 home victory against Brighton in the English Premier League on Sunday night.
That result saw them remain second in the table and they now have a great chance of finishing inside the top four and claiming Champions League football next season.
It was an important victory for the Red Devils following the 3-1 loss at Leicester City in the FA Cup prior to the international break. As a result of being eliminated from that competition, the Europa League is now the only opportunity for Manchester United to win a trophy this season.
📱 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 📱➡️ Alternative angles of Sunday’s strikes! #MUFC pic.twitter.com/YtmRdOrdkv— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 5, 2021
📱 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 📱➡️ Alternative angles of Sunday’s strikes! #MUFC pic.twitter.com/YtmRdOrdkv
Their results in this competition have been good and Manchester United are undefeated in 10 of their last 11 Europa League matches.
There have been under 2.5 goals scored in 3 of the latest games in the Europa League featuring Manchester United and they have won each of their 2 away fixtures in the tournament this season.
One of those victories came against Spanish opposition as Manchester United defeated Real Sociedad 4-0 but that game was played at a neutral venue.
Looking ahead to the team news and Granada have a lengthy injury list including Neyder Lozano, Luis Suárez, Luis Milla, and Quini. They also have doubts over the fitness of Dimitri Foulquier, Carlos Neva, and Alberto Soro.
Manchester United will be without forward Anthony Martial plus Juan Mata and Phil Jones who are injured. Eric Bailly has tested positive for COVID-19 so will miss out and there is a doubt over the fitness of Marcus Rashford.
Granada will be keen to keep things as tight as possible throughout the 90 minutes, knowing that if they concede an away goal it is going to be extremely difficult to progress.
However, Manchester United have the ability to break them down and could come away with a win and clean sheet.