Manchester United vs Barcelona Predictions

• First-leg 2-2 draw was full of incident and enterprise from both teams
• Both teams have scored in four of Man Utd’s last six home games
• Barcelona have not kept a clean sheet in Europe this season, but have scored in their last ten away games.
• Marcus Rashford has scored in nine of United’s last 11 home games.

United and Barca should serve up another treat  

An intriguingly-poised tie that could go either way plays out at Old Trafford on Thursday when Manchester United attempt to knock Barcelona out of the Europa League. The Red Devils are looking to finish off the job they started at Spotify Camp Nou when they went toe-to-toe with the LaLiga leaders.

United could be said to have had the better of those exchanges as they created a higher quality of chances while they also now have a stronger squad to choose from with Lisandro Martinez and Marcel Sabitzer back from suspension.

Barca can restore Sergio Busquests to their midfield, but have lost both Gavi and Pedri to suspension and injury respectively. Ousmane Dembele, who would start if available, is still out too.

Rashford and Lewandowski can guarantee goals 

The two players that look most likely to decide the tie are Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski, both of whom are in superb goalscoring form. Rashford worried Xavi so much before last week’s tussle that the Barca coach reshuffled a defence that had been pretty watertight in the previous games.

Ronald Araujo is again likely to be matched up against the 24-goal Englishman on Thursday, but Erik ten Hag can deploy Rashford anywhere across the front line. Lewandowski had a forgettable night in the first leg, but registered his 15th league goal of the campaign during Barca’s 2-0 win over Cadiz on Sunday.

Ferran Torres caught the eye in that game and his pace might be a welcome addition to Xavi’s starting line-up at Old Trafford, where Barcelona have only won once in five previous visits.

Both teams to score makes solid sense

While the visitors may be weakened in midfield and without a win over any big-name team in European competition since 2020, it is hard to rule them out completely.  Both teams to score seems a pretty safe haven in the betting markets given the nature of the first-leg and United’s recent home results sequence that has seen BTTS land in four of their last six at Old Trafford.

However, the edge is certainly with United after their showing last week and the confidence they will take from that statement performance, plus Ten Hag’s ability to tweak things in their favour to determine tight games means they are worthy of support in the correct score markets.

A 2-1 home win is the preferred play here as United have scored exactly two or three goals in each of their 11 post-World Cup games at Old Trafford. Barca, who have the ruthless Lewandowski to punish any slackness from a United defence that were sloppy against Leicester on Sunday, have only twice shipped more than two goals away from home this term.