MANCHESTER United take on the unknown Zorya in the Europa League this Thursday. Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) is all over it for us.
Manchester United v Zorya | Thursday 20:05 | BT Sport 2
No, I've never heard of them either to be honest? Their name kind of reminds me of the girl in He-Man, She-Ra. Do you think He-Man got down and dirty with She-Ra?
Anyway, enough about Manchester United's opponents amusing name. The Ukrainian outfit are in uncharted territory this autumn as they take part in the Europa League group stages.
The Luhansk side have made steady progress this century and last season finished in their joint highest position in the Ukrainian league of fourth place. That meant they automatically reached the group stages after stalling in the play-off round in the last two seasons.
Their previous European endeavours saw them less to Feyenoord (touchy subject for Manchester United that one) and Legia Warsaw and were disgraced in neither tie.
No Wayne Rooney for the home side tonight due to a back injury and that will be a relief to many United fans after they purred in his absence on Saturday in a dominating 4-1 win over Leicester.
Will we see a repeat of that kind of performance here at Old Trafford or something more sedate in the vein of their 3-1 loss to Watford or 2-1 defeat to their city rivals?
At the odds Zorya look underrated at 25/1. Is there really that make of a gulf between these sides? Not for me on European form. Ukrainian football has improved in recent seasons with Dnipro reaching the Europa League Final last year and Zorya have held their own against Feyenoord and Legia in the last two seasons.
A decent home draw with Fenerbahce in their opening game of the group puts them above Manchester United and I think they can avoid a shellacking here. I'll back Under 3 Goals on the Asian Handicap Goal Line at 22/23 with 188BET. Stakes are returned if exactly three are scored.
Best Bets
Manchester United v Zorya – Under 3 Goals Asian Handicap Goal Line (22/23 188BET)
