Sheriff v Manchester United predictions: Red Devils can grind out win in Moldova

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Sheriff v Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 5.45pm Thursday

Best bet

Manchester United to win by one goal
1pt 3-1 bet365, Boylesports

Team news

Sheriff
Goalkeeper Dumitru Celeadnic has been absent with Covid-19 and is expected to miss out again.

Manchester United
Luke Shaw is back in training but Anthony Martial, Facundo Pellistri, Brandon Williams and Donny van de Beek are sidelined. Marcus Rashford and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were not involved in United's latest training session.

Match preview

Manchester United fans won't see their side in the Premier League again until October, and they may also face a nervy wait to get their first Europa League points on the board when they face Moldovan battlers Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday.

Erik ten Hag's men are 2-11 to get back to winning ways. But they were frustrated in their Group E opener, losing 1-0 to Real Sociedad after the Basque club were awarded a controversial penalty, which ended a run of four victories.

Hosts Sheriff should be in good spirits after their 3-0 win over Omonia Nicosia in their Europa League opener and they are unbeaten in each of their last eight competitive encounters in all competitions.

Key to their success has been a robust defence and prior to the beginning of the Europa League group stage last week, they had kept clean sheets in six of their eight continental playoff matches.

They showed they know how to restrict stronger opponents in last season's Champions League group stage, finishing third in a group made up of Real Madrid, Inter and Shakhtar Donetsk.

And they can limit the damage when they host a Manchester United team still finding their feet under Ten Hag.

United hit a new low when losing 4-0 away to Brentford in the Premier League last month and the team had a disjointed feel to it.

However, they responded with wins over Liverpool, Southampton, Leicester and Arsenal and are only three points adrift of top spot.

Three of those four wins were by single-goal margins and while Ten Hag still figures out his best side, efficient and low-scoring wins seem more likely than United blowing teams apart.

Sheriff have shown they can hold their own on the European stage, impressing in the Champions League group stage last season before taking Braga to penalties in their Europa League round-of-32 tie and they will not go down without a fight.

United should field a strong side here with little football on the horizon after their scheduled league match against Leeds on Sunday was postponed - they will not be back in action until next month's Manchester derby.

They should take maximum points but the better bet could be the visitors to win by one goal, which offers great value at 3-1.

Key stat

Three of Manchester United's last four matches have been settled by 1-0 scorelines.

Inside info

Sheriff

Penalty taker Iyayi Atiemwen
Assist ace Ibrahim Akanbi Rasheed
Set-piece aerial threat Ibrahim Akanbi Rasheed
Card magnet Patrick Kpozo

Manchester United

Penalty taker Cristiano Ronaldo
Assist ace Bruno Fernandes
Set-piece aerial threat Harry Maguire
Card magnet Harry Maguire

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