Villarreal v Man Utd predictions: Red Devils are ready to bag Europa crown

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Villarreal v Manchester United in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 8pm, Wednesday

Best bet

Manchester United
2pts 5-6 general

Team news

Villarreal
Samuel Chukwueze and Juan Foyth (both hamstring) are major doubts and Vicente Iborra (knee) is a long-term absentee, but Etienne Capoue is available after suspension.

Man Utd
Phil Jones (knee) and Anthony Martial (knee) are sidelined and Harry Maguire (ankle) is unlikely to feature.

Match preview

Manchester United took a brave decision by appointing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in December 2018 but they have made steady progress under the Norwegian and can win a first trophy under his stewardship by defeating Villarreal in the Europa League final in Gdansk.

Solskjaer has had some difficult spells over the last two-and-a-half years but has overseen progress in the Premier League, with finishes of sixth, third and second, and led the club to last season's Europa League semi-finals, where they were defeated 2-1 by Sevilla.

Every United manager is ultimately judged on the deliverance of trophies and Solskjaer's side look worthy favourites to defeat Villarreal, who are competing in their first European final.

While the Yellow Submarine are heading into uncharted territory, their manager, Unai Emery, has plenty of experience of winning major finals, having led Sevilla to Europa League glory in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Emery's reputation took a knock during an unsuccessful 18-month spell at Arsenal, although he steered the Gunners to the 2019 Europa League final where they were beaten 4-1 by Chelsea.

He also made a triumphant return to the Emirates earlier this month when Villarreal held Arsenal to a 0-0 second-leg stalemate - enough for a 2-1 aggregate success - and ended the club's habit of falling short in European semi-finals.

Villarreal had suffered semi-final exits in the 2005-06 Champions League and the 2010-11 and 2015-16 Europa League competitions, so it was understandable that their success over the Gunners was a trigger for wild celebrations.

Their goalless draw in north London was all the more impressive because it was achieved without two key players - injured right back Juan Foyth and suspended midfielder Etienne Capoue.

And the task became even more difficult after an injury to exciting winger Samuel Chukwueze, who was withdrawn after just 28 minutes.

Capoue returns against United to add his experience and physicality to the mix but Foyth and Chukwueze were not involved in the final day of the La Liga season.

Teenager Yeremy Pino came on for Chukwueze against Arsenal and looked an exciting prospect but the main danger to United will be clever centre-forward Gerard Moreno, who was joint second in the La Liga scoring charts with 23 goals in 33 appearances.

Villarreal are unbeaten in 14 Europa League matches this season and were tactically astute in the matches against Arsenal, which were a step up from what they had faced earlier in the competition.

However, United are a level above the Gunners and have breezed through to the final despite a more testing knockout-stage schedule.

They were 4-0 aggregate victors over Real Sociedad, who finished four points above Villarreal in La Liga, and came through a tough round-of-16 tie against Milan, drawing 0-0 at Old Trafford and winning 1-0 at the San Siro.

Premier League performances and results tailed off towards the end of the season but Solksjaer's team selections have been based on ensuring that key players are fit and ready for the Gdansk trip and, with the notable exception of Harry Maguire, his squad has come through unscathed.

Aside from Eric Bailly's likely inclusion alongside Victor Lindelof, it should be a full-strength Red Devils side lining up against Villarreal and they should succeed without the need for extra-time.

Key stat

Manchester United have scored the opening goal in five of their last six Europa League matches.

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