Predictions of Opponent Candidates for Manchester United in the 2019-20 Europa League Group Phase

DBasia.news –  Manchester United will not find it easy to play in the 2019-20 Europa League group phase. There is the potential for them to meet troublesome opponents.

The teams that will participate in the Europa League are yet to be determined. Moreover, there are still many teams participating in the Europa League play-offs and the second leg matches will take place on Thursday (8/29) and Friday (8/30) early morning Western Indonesian Time.

The play-off still includes teams whose names are well known in Europe such as PSV Eindhoven, Espanyol, Braga, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord, Eintracht Frankfurt (semifinalists last season), Rangers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Torino.

Arsenal, Man United and Wolves, who will still fight in the second leg of the play-offs, are the three representatives of England in the Europa League. For Arsenal and Man United, the Europa League has become a subscription tournament in recent years.

Manchester United’s trip has been fairly inconsistent in the last three seasons. After winning the 2016-17 Europa League, Man United had played in the Champions League twice in a row and then returned to the Europa League this season, after last season finishing in sixth place in the Premier League.

The start of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team was also inconsistent this season. Had a convincing 4-0 win over Chelsea, David De Gea and his friends decreased when the 1-1 draw against Wolves and lost surprisingly 1-2 to Crystal Palace.

Considering the depth of Man United’s squad is not very good, there is a potential they will have a great difficulty playing on a busy European schedule and in England. Nevertheless, Solskjaer stressed the Europa League as a priority to be won.

“We see the Europa League as a place to give more playing time to young players, but also the chance to win the trophy. The last time we joined, we won it, this also became a way to qualify for the Champions League,” Solskjaer said during the preseason. 

“In all competitions, you can’t just rely on ‘Wow, we have to win this one’. We, of course, have to look all out to try to win it. This is a big trophy.”

Given the potential opponents that Man United has the potential to face in the group phase, there is a chance they will meet Celtic, Rangers, Borussia Monchengladbach, PSV, Young Boys, Sparta Prague, AS Saint-Etienne, Getafe, Espanyol, and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Reporting from the Manchester Evening News, the following predictions for the distribution of the pots of teams that will participate and be drawn for the 2019-20 Europa League group phase:

1st Pot

Sevilla, Arsenal Roma, Manchester United, Besiktas, Basel, Sporting, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg, Club Brugge, Lazio

2nd Pot

PSV, Sparta Prague, Krasnodar, Viktoria Plzen, Braga, Gent, Borussia Monchengladbach, BATE Borisov, Young Boys, Ludogorets, APOEL, Legia Warsaw

3rd Pot

PAOK, FCSB, Saint-Etienne, Qarabag, Eintracht Frankfurt, Feyenoord, Slavic Prague, Getafe, Espanyol, Malmo, Maribor, Partizan

4th Pot

Standard Liege, Wolves, Red Star Belgrade, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, FC Sheriff, Rennes, Istanbul Basaksehir, FC Oleksandriya