Can Manchester United gain a first leg advantage in Austria against LASK?
Odds, preview and betting tips for this evening’s Europa League tie
In front of a limited crowd of just 500 this evening, Manchester United take on LASK at the Linzer Stadion in the first leg of their Round of 16 Europa League match.
The game goes ahead despite fears over the Coronavirus, with two Europa League fixtures, Sevilla v Roma and Inter Milan v Getafe, already being postponed. Others will go ahead behind closed doors.
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said he will “understand” if the season is cut short before of the disease, but they’ll look to bring the advantage back to Manchester for the second leg next week.
The Red Devils are the favourites to lift this seasons Europa League at 7/2, and with Premier League rivals Arsenal out of contention, they face a slightly easier task. Will they conquer the Europa again?
LASK v Manchester United Match Odds
United are the clear odds-on favourites to win in Austria at 10/11, and overwhelming favourites to progress to the quarter finals at 2/9.
LASK are unbeaten on home soil in this season’s Europa League, beating the likes of Sporting, Rosenborg, PSV Eindhoven and AZ Alkmaar. They’re 16/5 to win tonight.
United’s Odion Ighalo is the 16/5 favourite to open the scoring, with Bruno Fernandes 15/8 to score anytime. AMarko Raguz brace saw LASK through in the last round. He’s 3/1 to score anytime.
Both sides come into this match on great form, with the home side losing only once in their last 10 matches in all competitions. That defeat came in the Austrian Cup semi-final, where they lost 1-0 to Red Bull Salzburg.
Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 10 in all competitions, with their last defeat coming at the back end of January where they lost 2-0 at Old Trafford to Burnley. They’ll come in with confidence off the back of a 2-0 win over city rivals Manchester City at the weekend.
LASK will have to make do without their two regular centre backs for the first leg, both due to disciplinary issues. Petar Filipovic is banned due to an accumulation of yellow cards, with Philipp Wiesinger suspended after picking up a red card in their second leg against AZ Alkmaar.
Boss Valerien Ismael is likely to plug those gaps with Christian Ramsebner and Markus Wostry, but he’ll need to replace Marvin Potzmann at wing-back too with the 26-year-old Austrian out through injury. Rene Renner should step in to replace him.
United boss Solskjaer left several first-team regulars at home, including the likes of Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
With Wan-Bissaka out, and Diogo Dalot left at home too, it’s likely that Axel Tuanzebe could make his first appearance in 2020. Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford are still sidelined through injury.
Bruno Fernandes has already bagged a goal against LASK this season, coming in Sporting’s 2-1 home win over LASK in the group stage. He also registered an assist that match too. As Manchester United best chance of silverware this season, Solskjaer’s side will be looking for a top performance to take the advantage back to Old Trafford.
View the latest LASK v Man Utd odds.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publication.
