Manchester United and Villarreal will fight for the Europa League title on 26th May at Gdansk stadium in Poland. United advanced here by dominating Roma in the final four by eight goals over two legs, while the Yellow Submarine progressed by beating Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate. On Saturday, Villarreal’s La Liga season came to an end with a 2-1 loss to eventual runners-up Real Madrid. On the other hand, United won the Premier League by the same scoreline over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Team news
Villarreal lineup: Asenjo; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Trigueros, Capoue, Parejo, Yeremy; Moreno, Alcacer
Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze would be a major loss as he might miss the final of the Europa League due to a hamstring injury. Tottenham’s Juan Foyth is also a major doubt.
Pau Torres will start at center-back for Unai Emery’s side although he has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United in the run-up to the summer.
Carlos Bacca and Paco Alcacer are vying for the starting spot up front alongside Gerard Moreno.
Manchester United lineup: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Bailly, Shaw; Fred, McTominay; Rashford, Fernandes, Pogba; Cavani
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hoping if captain Harry Maguire will recover from an ankle injury in time, but he will give him every opportunity to prove his fitness for the final on Wednesday. Phil Jones and Anthony Martial are both ruled out.
Eric Bailly will be replaced by Axel Tuanzebe in the left-sided centre-back role and David de Gea is expected to start in goal over Dean Henderson.
Mason Greenwood will feel cheated if he does not start, particularly because he is better on the right side than Marcus Rashford, but Solskjaer would be foolish to leave the latter on the bench.
🗣️ The boss is only focusing on his players ahead of the #UELfinal#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 26, 2021
Prediction
For Wednesday’s Europa League final, Villarreal is considered underdogs but with Unai Emery at the helm, they can be cautiously confident.
Manchester United’s performance is concerned as they have sleep walked their way to the final after reaching the semi-finals. But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is desperate to win his first title as Manchester United boss.
The match will be played in the presence of 9500 fans in the stadium. All eyes are on the 90 minutes match to see Emery’s run of Europa League victories continue or Solskjaer win first trophy as Man United manager.
Moreno and co can smell blood if Maguire is ruled out, and Villarreal should have no trouble breaking through the Red Devils’ defense, but we can see the trophy returning to Manchester as Solskjaer’s ruthless attackers take their side to victory in Gdansk.
Our Prediction: Villarreal 1-2 Manchester United
