FC Astana vs Manchester United Predictions

Astana come in to matchday five of the Europa League group stages already playing for pride alone. They have collected no points from their four group stage games, with their demolition at the hands of AZ earlier this month ending all hopes of them making it to the knockout stages.

The opening two matches actually didn’t go too badly for Astana in terms of performance, although the narrow defeats to Manchester United and Partizan put them on the back foot instantly. Things started to go badly wrong when they faced a talented and fresh-faces AZ squad though, with their two clashes with the Dutch side resulting in an 11-0 aggregate defeat.

On Thursday they face a Manchester United side who are on course to qualify from Group L, only needing a draw against Astana to seal qualification and knowing that victory could potentially clinch top spot in the group.

That being said, it’s not all been plain sailing for the Red Devils. They may have won three of their four Europa League games, but it’s not exactly been convincing. They scored just two goals in their opening three group matches before finally coming to life at home to Partizan last time out.

In fairness to Man Utd, they haven’t conceded a single goal in the Europa League this season, and a clean sheet on Thursday could see them become the first team to keep a clean sheet in their opening five group stage games in the competition.

Admittedly, Man Utd haven’t been at their best so far this season, but they should have more than enough to see off the threat of Astana. The Kazakh hosts have scored just one goal in the Europa League group stages and have failed to find the net in three of their last six in all competitions, so backing Both Teams to Score looks a good offering.

As we mentioned previously, Man Utd should have more than enough to see off Astana here. They may have struggled going forward this season, but they did beat Partizan 3-0 last time out and they’re facing an Astana side that have been humiliated at the hands of AZ recently. They have conceded 3.5 goals per game on average, but with Man Utd’s attacking record we think a more conservative 2-0 scoreline is a good option.