Man U Host Rostov in Must-win Europa Match
Manchester United (-350) vs. FC Rostov (+1400), Draw (+500)
Manchester United will host FC Rostov for the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16 on Thursday March 16th.
The first leg was a relatively dull affair. Man U’s Dortmund recruit, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, scored the opening goal against a disorganised Rostov side. But Rostov responded with a goal of their own, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
That’s not exactly a great outcome for United, who should have easily defeated the eighth-ranked team in the Russian Premier League. But they head into Old Trafford with an away goal, which is always an advantage.
Manchester United have been stalling in the English Premier League. They’re currently undefeated in 17 games, but have not managed to improve their position from sixth place. In fact, United have just hit their 100th straight day of sitting sixth on the Premier League table. Their qualification for the Europa League next year is virtually guaranteed, while their chances of a Champions League spot is pretty much non-existent.
They’re also out of the FA Cup after an unfortunate 1-0 loss to Chelsea. United were forced to field a subpar starting line-up, with almost all of their attacking players out. Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial were injured, Marcus Rashford was ill, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was suspended. Luckily, Rashford was ruled fit at the last minute, but he was all they had against Chelsea. To add to their misfortune, Ander Herrera got himself sent off early in the game and Manchester United were forced to face the toughest team in the league with ten men.
Against Rostov, they’ll be more-or-less fielding their top team. Rooney has been cleared of injury, Ibrahimovic will be allowed to play, and I assume Rashford will be match-ready. There’s really no excuse for them not to win at Old Trafford.
Now that Tottenham is out of Europa and Roma are likely to succumb to Lyon, Manchester United are an even heavier favorite to take the Europa Cup. With nothing else to play for this season, we can be sure United will throw everything they have into the upcoming game against Rostov.
Pick: Manchester United (-350)
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
