Manchester United to Take Control of Group A
When the draw was made for the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage, Manchester United fans were happy with the result.
However, having struggled against Basel and Benfica in the past, these two teams could prove to be difficult plus CSKA Moscow have great experience of playing in Europe’s premier competition.
Jose Mourinho’s men cannot afford to take anything for granted, especially away from home against one of the most famous names in the history of European football, Benfica.
The Portuguese club come into this match bottom of Group A having lost their previous two matches in the tournament. There have been defeats at home to CSKA Moscow, a match which ended 2-1 in favour of the visitors and a heavy 5-0 loss at Basel.
Having won the Portuguese league for the last four seasons in succession, Benfica would expect more from their Champions League campaign and they have a chance to put things right in this match against Manchester United.
Trends show Benfica have lost one of their six home matches this season, which was the defeat to CSKA Moscow in this competition. However, they have been inconsistent this season, winning only two of their last seven games in all competitions.
At home in the Champions League, Benfica have won only three of their last eight matches but have scored in each of the last ten.
Manchester United travel to Lisbon on the back of a hard fought 0-0 draw at Liverpool. It appeared they went into the match playing for the point and that’s what they got, creating only one good chance to score.
The draw means Manchester United remain unbeaten this season, having won nine and drawn two of their eleven games.
Both draws have come in away matches with a 2-2 draw at Stoke City and the 0-0 draw at Liverpool on Saturday in the Premier League.
In the Champions League this season, Manchester United have looked comfortable, defeating Basel 3-0 at home and defeating CSKA Moscow 4-1 in Russia.
However, things have not always gone well for Manchester United on the road in the Champions League and trends show they have won only three of their last twelve away matches. Mourinho will be hoping to make a significant improvement to that record this season.
Benfica have doubts over four players for this game, with Jardel, Jonas, Julio Cesar and Eliseu all looking to recover from injury. Andre Almeida is suspended.
Manchester United are still without Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini, Marcos Rojo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Romelu Lukaku should start up-front and Marcus Rashford may play from the start having been on the bench on the weekend.
Benfica need to recover following their big loss in Basel, which could see a somewhat conservative approach from the home team. Manchester United have looked good in Europe this season and have the tools to break down the home team.
An away win is the most likely result here, with Romelu Lukaku the favourite to break the deadlock.