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Manchester United are set to face FCSB tonight in what is their final UEFA Europa League group stage match.
Sitting in 4th place with 15 points, Man United are on the verge of securing automatic qualification to the Europa League knockouts, meaning that a win would cement their progress.
Still, FCSB, who are set to host United at The National Arena in Romania, have enjoyed a successful Europa League campaign as well. They currently sit in eighth place, the last automatic qualifying spot, with 14 points.
While an impressive showing by the Romanian outfit, it’s important to note that FCSB’s victories have come against opposition of a lower calibre than United, namely RFS, PAOK, and FC Midtjylland.
But even if the hosts are clearly the underdogs going into the encounter, United will need to make certain improvements in order to secure three points in Bucharest.
Pulling off a valuable 1-0 away win over Fulham last weekend, United showed that struggles still persist in terms of creating goalscoring opportunities, but more specifically, putting their existing chances away.
Ruben Amorim’s squad took just four shots in the entire match, with a deflection off Lisandro Martinez’s second-half strike handing United a late win.
While the team managed 16 shots in their previous match, namely a 2-1 win over Rangers in the Europa League, the match before it – a 3-1 home defeat to Brighton – saw United take 10 shots yet create just one big chance.
Even in the 3-1 victory against Premier League strugglers, it took until the 82nd minute for United to find a breakthrough after trailing 1-0 for much of the match. Also important to consider is that United took a colossal 23 shots, meaning that the three goals came after heavy struggles in the final third for most of the contest.
Unfortunately, a lack of options at striker has been a consistent issue for United, with Rasmus Hojlund performing poorly yet again, while Joshua Zirkzee also hasn’t had much success in front of goal this season.
Ultimately, quicker counter-attacking and less hesitation in the final third is needed from United, while the wingers on the night, who could be Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo, may need to show some creativity of their own should their striker underperform as has been the case as of late.
Surprisingly, United’s defence held steady in their previous encounter against Fulham, keeping a clean sheet and defending three corners, seemingly leaving their set-piece struggles in the past.
Now, it seems that a tougher attack is needed if United are to score the goals they need to get the best of their Romanian opponents this evening. Given Amorim’s team’s ability to score against top-drawer opposition in recent times, a simple tweak in mentality and more urgency up front should easily catapult the Portuguese manager’s team to a comfortable win.
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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