Despite being on track to record their lowest-ever Premier league finish and suffering exits in both domestic cup competitions, Manchester United still have a chance to salvage their season with silverware in the UEFA Europa League. The Red Devils travel to France for the first leg of their quarter-final clash against Lyon at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday evening [20:00 BST, 21:00 CEST].
The importance of success for Ruben Amorim in the Europa League cannot be overstated. Not only would it bring a first trophy less than a season into his reign, but it would also secure a highly coveted spot in next season’s Champions League. The financial gains would allow the Portuguese manager, under the control of those above him, to invest into a playing squad that requires significant improvement.
Yet progressing into the next round will likely be a demanding challenge. Paulo Fonseca’s Lyon side possess a combination of youth and experience and boast the second best attacking output in this season’s tournament so far with 23 goals in 10 games.
The hosts will be hoping to progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League for just the second time in their history. The last time they reached the final four of the competition was in the 2016-17 season, which coincidentally was the same campaign that saw Manchester United win the trophy under José Mourinho.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Stats
Lyon and Manchester United are meeting competitively for the first time since their 2007-08 Champions League round of 16 tie. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side earned a 2-1 victory on aggregate on their way to winning the competition for the third time in their illustrious history.
Lyon are in fact winless in all four meetings in major European competitions against United (D2 L2), having only faced Barcelona more times without winning in Europe (P8 D3 L5).
Embed from Getty ImagesUnited’s recent history strongly favours them to advance to the semi-finals. They’ve lost just one of their last 21 Europa League matches (W14 D6) and are undefeated in the first leg of their last 11 major knockout ties (W5 D6).
However, Opta’s supercomputer predicts Lyon to be the favourites on Thursday, giving them a 41.9% chance of victory. The visitors still have a 31.4% chance of taking a valuable win back to Old Trafford, whilst a draw was ranked at 26.7%.
Team News
Paulo Fonseca will be without winger Malick Fofana due to a knee injury as well as Ernest Nuamah, who suffered an ACL injury that will keep the Ghana international out of action for the rest of the season.
Regarding Manchester United’s squad availability, Ayden Heaven, Jonny Evans, Lisandro Martínez and Amad Diallo all remain long-term absentees.
Kobbie Mainoo made a long-awaited return to training but will remain a doubt for Thursday’s clash alongside Matthijs de Ligt, who was sidelined for the Manchester Derby.
We expect Rayan Cherki and Bruno Fernandes to be the two players to watch on Thursday evening. 21 year-old Rayan Cherki has already accumulated 8 assists in the Europa League this season (a joint-record by a player in a single campaign) and has created 38 chances in the 2024-25 competition, with only Dries Mertens generating more (39). Meanwhile, after his hat-trick against Real Sociedad in the last round, Bruno Fernandes became the leading player in terms of goal involvements in Europa league history (41 – 24 goals, 17 assists).
Embed from Getty ImagesTV Guide
Lyon v Manchester United will be live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage beginning at 19:45 BST ahead of kickoff at 20:00 BST.
FromTheSpot Prediction
We expect a high-action 2-2 draw to be played out at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday evening.
Each of Manchester United’s last three away first leg matches have been drawn, whilst on both trips to Lyon the Red Devils have come from behind to draw, from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in September 2004 and 1-0 down to draw 1-1 in February 2008.