Manchester United vs Anderlecht Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Manchester United once again had the majority of the ball last week in Anderlecht, but once again they failed to make their dominance count and ended up conceding an equaliser and ending the game with a 1-1 draw. They are still overwhelming favourites for the tie, but it’s not the best result for them, considering how much of the ball they had.

Things went a lot better for them at the weekend though, as they hosted Premier League leaders Chelsea, as they continue their battle for a top four finish. They put in one of their best performances of the season on Sunday and came away with a deserved 2-0 victory to both boost their chances of Champions League football and blow the title race wide open.

This extends The Red Devils’ unbeaten streak to seven games in all competitions, and at home they are now unbeaten in 26 outings. They have failed to win nine of these games though, so a victory on Thursday is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Anderlecht followed their midweek draw with a tight 1-0 win away to KV Oostende, to put them six points clear of Gent at the top of the Belgian First Division table. They will be placing a huge amount of emphasis on this Europa League tie though.

Away from home Anderlecht have now won three games on the bounce, but prior to that they had lost back to back away games against Zenit and Mechelen. It won’t help that Jose Mourinho is taking this competition so seriously either, knowing it’s his only chance of silverware this season and Manchester United’s best chance of making it into the Champions League next term.

The hosts haven’t been overly convincing at Old Trafford this season though. They have had the vast majority of the ball in most of their home games, but they have failed to make that count on far too many occasions. They only managed a 1-0 win over Rostov in their last home game in this competition too, and nine of their last 12 home matches have seen fewer than three goals.

I expect another difficult performance from them on Thursday, and Anderlecht will do the same as Rostov and set up to keep them out for as long as possible. This makes odds of 5/4 for Under 2.5 Goals look fantastic value, so I’m backing that alongside a 1-0 win for the hosts at 6/1 for my correct score predictions.