Athletic Bilbao and Manchester United will meet in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie at the San Mames on Thursday 1st May, with the match set to kick off at 20:00 BST.
Below we provide in-depth analysis, predictions, betting tips and more ahead of what promises to be a pivotal night in both teams’ seasons.
Tip 1
Athletic Bilbao are unbeaten in their last 10 home matches across all competitions, winning seven of those, while they are six wins from six at the San Mames in this season’s Europa League, scoring 14 goals in the process and conceding just two.
Manchester United have tended to save their best form under head coach Ruben Amorim for this competition but their away record in general is poor. They have won just one of their last eight matches on the road, and they may come unstuck again in Bilbao.
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Tip 2
While Athletic Bilbao don’t tend to give away too much on home soil, three of their last four Europa League games at the San Mames have featured three or more goals and their defence will be tested by Manchester United.
Only Lyon (29) have scored more goals in this season’ competition than United (28), and with their last three European fixtures featuring a combined 18 goals, Thursday’s first leg could prove another lively showdown.
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This could prove an historic season for Athletic Bilbao, who look set to qualify for next season’s Champions League – they currently sit fourth in La Liga – and via this competition are hoping to land their first major European trophy.
Head coach Ernesto Valverde, who is in his third spell in charge having also played for Athletic, won the Copa del Rey with the club last year, and he has built much of this season’s success on a strong defence. In fact, they have the best defensive record in La Liga.
Athletic have won three of their last four matches and their only defeat in their last 10 across all competitions was a narrow 1-0 loss away to Real Madrid.
Key player Nico Williams should provide plenty of Athletic’s attacking threat on Thursday alongside his brother Inaki Williams, but 17-goal leading scorer Oihan Sancet will miss the match with a thigh problem.
Athletic Bilbao Predicted XI: Simon; Gorosabel, Vivian, Alvarez, Berchiche; Ruiz de Galarreta, Jauregizar; I. Williams, Berenguer, N. Williams; Guruzeta.
It has been nothing short of a disastrous season for Manchester United domestically, as they are languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League standings and could end up with their lowest league finish since they were promoted to the top flight in 1975.
Head coach Amorim succeeded Erik ten Hag in the Old Trafford dugout in November, but he is still trying to imprint his style of play on the United squad and has won only 13 of his 35 matches in charge.
Amorim and United’s saving grace has been this Europa League run, as they are the only side yet to taste defeat in this season’s competition (W7, D5).
United’s injury list is extensive but they have received a double boost ahead of this game, with Amad Diallo and Matthijs de Ligt having both returned to full training.
However, Diogo Dalot (calf), Joshua Zirkzee (hamstring) and Lisandro Martinez (knee) will miss out again, while the contest is also expected to come too soon for youngsters Toby Collyer (leg) and Ayden Heaven (ankle).
Man United Predicted XI: Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Shaw; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dorgu; Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund.
These two sides have met on four previous occasions with Athletic winning three of those games, while United’s sole success over their Basque opponents came in February 1957.
The most recent clashes were in the round of 16 of the 2011/12 Europa League when Marcelo Bielsa’s Athletic followed up a 3-2 away win with a 2-1 victory at the San Mames to seal a 5-3 aggregate success.
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