Man Utd team news vs Real Sociedad and predicted lineup | OneFootball

Manchester United resume their quest for Europa League glory when they travel to face Real Sociedad in the first leg of their last 16 tie on Thursday.

The game at Old Trafford kicks off at 8pm and will be shown on TNT Sports 1.

Man Utd predicted lineup vs Real Sociedad

Man Utd (3-4-2-1): Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Yoro; Dalot, Fernandes, Ugarte, Dorgu; Zirkzee, Garnacho; Hojlund.

Man Utd team news vs Real Sociedad

Man Utd will be without Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Jonny Evans in defence, with Harry Maguire also likely to miss out after being forced off at the weekend against Fulham with an injury. He was replaced at the weekend by Ayden Heaven, who will be available on Thursday.

Ruben Amorim will also be without Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount in midfield, as the England pair remain unavailable. Neither are expected to return until after the March international break.

Seventeen-year-old Chido Obi came from the bench against Fulham, putting in an impressive performance. But he will also be unavailable, as the youngster cannot be added to the B list of the squad registration due to only signing for the academy last year.

On the bright side, Amorim will have Patrick Dorgu available for selection, as his suspension picked up from a red card against Ipswich Town only applies to domestic games. This means he will miss Premier League fixtures against Arsenal and Leicester City, but will be able to face Real Sociedad on Thursday.

Ruben Amorim’s build up

Since Ruben Amorim has taken over at Man Utd, he has shown a clear perseverance to inducting his style, slowing down the build up, encouraging more bodies to drop deep in that first phase and aiming for more control.

This shows in their Europa League numbers, with Man Utd averaging the most passes attempted per game with 591.25, which is a jump of 40.65 passes to second-placed Roma who average 550.6 per game. The Red Devils are the only side in the Europa League to average 500+ successful passes per game, which shows their instance to control proceedings on the ball.

By having more bodies dropping into the first phase of build up, Man Utd often lack width in high and wide areas. Their wing-backs drop to provide another option and their central centre-back step forward towards midfield to become the spare man.

Man Utd have struggled to break teams down in a more settled defensive unit using this system, while also leaving Rasmus Hojlund quite isolated in the first phase of build up, leading to turnovers when the ball does go direct from Andre Onana.

Real Sociedad rank 21st in the Europa League for passes attempted per game with 451.1, which gives the impression this match will very much be down to Man Utd to break down the Spanish outfit, who will likely allow them to control proceedings on the ball.

It will be up to Amorim to inject his side with some more fluidity in the first phase of build up, in order to find ways of bypassing Real Sociedad and creating chances.