Gdansk: Manchester United will be hoping to pocket their first trophy of the season when they face Villarreal in an attempt to clinch the UEFA Europa League trophy in the final in Gdansk on Thursday (May 27). It will also be the clash of two unlike minds in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Unai Emery, the former Arsenal coach.
Villarreal are coming into the final after defeating Arsenal in a 2-1 aggregate in the semifinal. Whereas, Manchester United ran havoc against AS Roma when they scored eight goals against five over two legs in the last four clash.
Emery, who is no stranger to the Europa League, has an impressive outing this year with Villarreal in the tournament with 12 wins and two draws in 14 matches. As far as history goes, Villarreal are the 11th Spanish side to reach the final of the competition, although this is their major European final.
The Spanish side dominated this season finding the back of the net 30 times in 14 matches except for the goalless draw against Arsenal in the first leg of the semi-final. On the other hand, Manchester United are no stranger to success in this tournament having secured the title under Jose Mourinho in 2016-17.
Come Thursday, the Red Devils would like to continue their raging form and defeat the Men in Yellow to add their first silverware of the season. This is Manchester United’s eighth major European final, second-most by any English club after Liverpool.
As it stands, Manchester United are favourites on paper to win the final considering the fact they finished second in the English Premier League behind champions Manchester City. Villarreal, on the other hand, ended their La Liga campaign with a 1-2 defeat against Real Madrid finishing at seventh.
Gerrard Moreno with six goals and four assists has been the main artist for Villarreal paving his team to the final. For Manchester United, Edinson Cavani proved to be very crisp and sharp for the Reds and will play an important role besides Bruno Fernandes.
Possible line-ups:
Villarreal: Sergio Asenjo; Mario Gaspar, Raul Albiol, Pau Torres, Alfonso Pedraza; Manu Trigueros, Etienne Capoue, Dani Parejo, Yeremy Pino; Gerard Moreno, Paco Alcacer.
Manchester United: David de Gea; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, George Bailly, Luke Shaw; Fred, Scott McTominay; Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba; Edinson Cavani.
Head to Head
Manchester United would be facing the Spanish side for the fifth time in the competition. All their previous clashes ended in a goalless draw. In fact, Villarreal is the only opponent the Red Devils have faced the most times without scoring.
