The Europa League has reached gameweek six, and one of the biggest matches of the gameweek comes from Group E, as Real Sociedad play host to Manchester United at the Reale Arena.
Real Sociedad form guideLa Real are experiencing a decent all-around campaign. However, their performances in the Europa League have undoubtedly been the highlight of their season. Imanol Alguacil’s team has a perfect record in Group E, recording five straight victories in the group stages, including a 1-0 win in the reverse fixture.
A key factor in their excellent recent European results has been strong defensive displays, as Real Sociedad has kept clean sheets in four of their five matches in Group E.
The winning run has La Real top of the table, three points clear of their second-place opponents in the group. A draw would see them head into the last 16 as group winners. Only a defeat by more than two goals would see them slip to second place.
Manchester United form guideErik Ten Hag’s team has picked up some form and momentum of late, as United have recorded six wins in their previous eight games in all competitions. That good run includes winning three games in this competition to make it four straight victories in the Europa League.
Like Thursday night's opponents, the Red Devils have a good defensive record in the Europa League of late, as they have kept three clean sheets in their last four games in the competition.
Latest team newsReal Sociedad has a lengthy injury list heading into this clash, as Momo Cho, Umar Sadiq, Alexander Sorloth, Ander Barrenetxea, Alex Sola, Mikel Oyarzabal, Martin Merquelanz and Aihen Munoz could all miss out through injury.
Manchester United are once again without centre-back Raphael Varane, while Victor Lindelof and Anthony are also fitness doubts after missing the weekend game against West Ham.
What am I backing?I believe this will be a tight game, with defences on top. Both teams have been strong in defence in this competition of late, while La Real are missing their most potent forwards. This all adds to me backing under 2.5 goals scored in this fixture.
