United kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 defeat at Feyenoord a fortnight ago and would be looking to right that wrong as Zorya come to town. PHOTO: AFP
Mourinho’s reluctant contenders in Europe’s second-tier club competition kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 defeat at Feyenoord in Rotterdam a fortnight ago.
That Dutch disaster, which left United bottom of Group A, was the second of three consecutive reverses in between Premier League losses to Manchester City and then Watford.
Rooney-less Manchester United thrash Leicester 4-1
But United welcome the side who sit second in the Ukrainian Premier League with a renewed spring in their step after their weekend rout of English champions Leicester City.
Captain Wayne Rooney missed the trip to Feyenoord and Mourinho also left him on the bench for Saturday’s emphatic 4-1 victory.
If he returns and scores, Rooney will join Ruud van Nistelrooy as United’s all-time top scorer in Europe with 37 goals.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic misses the tie after being granted time off by Mourinho who could welcome back Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Manchester United struggling with lack of confidence, says Mourinho
The 27-year-old Armenian playmaker, a £26 million signing from Borussia Dortmund, has missed United’s last four games with a thigh problem.
Zorya travel to Manchester after an opening 1-1 draw with Fenerbahce. Midfielder Zeljko Ljubenovic spelt out the task facing him and his teammates.
“I watched their last match against Laicester. Hopefully we will manage to play better than Laicester did,” the Belgrade-born 35-year-old told his club’s website.
He added: “We need to play very carefully in defence. I hope we’ll be able to get a positive result.”
Schweinsteiger left out of United's Europa League squad
Group A rivals Fenerbahce and Feyenoord meet in Istanbul with Dirk Kuyt, now the captain of the Dutch side, going back to face the club he represented for three years until 2015.
Unlike United, Premier League rivals Southampton enjoyed the perfect start to their campaign with a 3-0 home defeat of Sparta Prague.
That was Claude Puel’s first win as Saints’ manager and the Frenchman will be looking for more of the same from his Group K leaders against Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Israel.
Sparta are in turmoil after firing their coach Zenek Scasny on Monday ahead of Inter Milan’s visit.
It’s a must-win game for both sides after Inter were stunned 2-0 at home by Hapoel in their opener.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2016.
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