Manchester United travel to Belgium on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League clash against Club Brugge.
United will enter the game full of confidence after securing a crucial win against Chelsea on Monday evening. Goals from Anthony Martial and Harry Maguire netted for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men to ensure the Reds cut the gap to Frank Lampard's men to just three points.
It was United's third win against Chelsea this season. Eric Bailly returned from injury during the win and looked impressive at the heart of defence. Given the fixture congestion, it's unknown whether the Ivorian will feature in midweek.
Solskjaer wasn't pleased with the scheduling, saying: "We are not going to get any help, I cannot understand for the life of me why we couldn't play on Saturday as we play on Thursday again."
Follow for the latest United breaking news and transfer gossip throughout the day.
Key Events
Training pictures: Club Brugge
Gallery: United train before Brugge
Full story on training squad
Manchester United have included Scott McTominay, Victor Lindelof and Axel Tuanzebe in their pre-match training squad for their trip to Club Brugge.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer takes his side to the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges for a Europa League last 32 clash, kicking off at 5.55pm (UK time) on Thursday evening.
The trio missed Monday’s win over Chelsea, with Lindelof unwell and McTominay and Tuanzebe not considered after their long-term injuries. But all three could feature as Solskjaer shuffles his pack with a quick turnaround between fixtures. McTominay and Tuanzebe took part in United’s warm weather training trip to Marbella last week and are close to making their comebacks.
Odion Ighalo and Bruno Fernandes are also in line to feature, after being added to United’s Europa League squad following their January arrivals.
Also included in the 24-man training squad was young winger Connor Stanley, an 18-year-old winger from the academy. Mason Greenwood did not train, though Timothy Fosu-Mensah — another player on the comeback trail was injury — was involved.
United topped a group containing AZ Alkmaar, Astana and Partizan Belgrade, securing the tie with the Belgian league table-toppers. They have only ever faced Brugge once before, over two legs in a 2015 Champions League qualifier.
United training squad before Club Brugge
Goalkeepers: David de Gea, Sergio Romero, Nathan Bishop
Defenders: Diogo Dalot, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Brandon Williams, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Axel Tuanzebe, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Eric Bailly, Timothy Fosu-Mensah
Midfielders: Fred, Jesse Lingard, Scott McTominay, Andreas Pereira, Nemanja Matic, Bruno Fernandes, Connor Stanley, Juan Mata
Forwards: Odion Ighalo, Anthony Martial, Daniel James.
United open training session
Watch the session here:
Greenwood not training before Brugge clash
We’ll bring you the full squad shortly.
Merson on United's top four hopes
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson wasn’t impressed with Manchester United despite their vital win over Chelsea on Monday night.
“It was a big win for Manchester United at Chelsea, but they weren’t good. They’re two just-above average teams, if I’m being honest. United winning just covers over the cracks, while Chelsea losing means you start seeing the cracks.
“If Chelsea put their chances away in the first half, the game’s over, but they didn’t. Harry Maguire should’ve been sent off and he then scores, so there were a lot of things where you could say with Chelsea they could’ve won the game.
“With Manchester United, you’re talking about one of the biggest clubs in the world not having a centre forward. They’re playing with Daniel James up front, who sooner or later has to be taken out of the team. You feel sorry for the lad, now. He looks a bit lost if I’m honest - he needs a break.
“When you look at Chelsea, you’re not going to get into the top four with Michy Batshuayi up front. He’s not good enough, so you’re looking at two teams who are so weak up front, that I honestly think Sheffield United have every chance this season. Neither Chelsea nor Manchester United seem to have the guile to break teams down.”
Club Brugge predictions
Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen has predicted draw for his former club in their Europa League clash at Club Brugge on Thursday night.
This is what he said about the game in his BetVictor blog:
“A busy week for Manchester United, who picked up a win at Stamford Bridge before travelling to Belgium for the 1st leg of their Europa League tie.
“Club Brugge are nine points clear in the Belgian First Division and did get a 2-2 draw in the Bernabeu against Real Madrid in the Champions League earlier in the season.
“The hosts will provide a stern test for United, but the Belgian outfit are without a win in their last 10 games against Premier League opposition and I think Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will get a hard-earned draw in Bruges.”
United's 200th Premier League player
Football didn’t begin in 1992, but it was still a nice landmark moment for United and Odion Ighalo when he came on against Chelsea.
Wenger to propose offside changes
Former Arsenal manager — and long-time Manchester United adversary — Arsene Wenger has a new role these days, as FIFA’s chief of global football.
And he is proposing a major change to the offside law, after a number of controversial decisions this season, exposed by VAR.
Wenger wants radical changes to the rules, which he will look to discuss with IFAB (International Football Association Board, the body that governs the laws of the game).
“I am in the middle of the controversial situation with VAR and it is clear that the most difficult thing that people have with it is the offside rule.
“You have had offsides by a margin of a fraction of a centimetre, offside literally by a nose.
“I believe it is the time to do this very quickly.
“There is room to change the rule a little bit and not say that a part of a player’s nose is offside, so you are offside because you can score with that.
“Instead, you will not be offside if any part of the body that can score a goal is in line with the last defender - even if other parts of the attacker’s body are in front.
“That will sort it out because you will no longer have decisions about millimetres and a fraction of the attacker being in front of the defensive line.”
Reality of the Haaland situation
United fans aren’t enjoying Haaland’s relentless goal run at Dortmund.
Pogba valuation reports
Speaking of Paul Pogba, the United midfielder is (obviously) again the subject of plenty of transfer gossip this morning.
ESPN claim that Pogba still expects to be sold this summer, but United are adamant that he wont be sold for anything like as cheap as the £50million that has been mentioned as Real Madrid’s valuation — according to the Daily Mail.
United previously had a valuation of around £150 million for Pogba. That’s quite the disparity.
Fred on Pogba
More from the interview the United midfielder has given to UOL Esporte:
“He’s a great person and a great player.
“On a daily basis we [are] together a lot. He’s a good guy and we try to bring him closer to United.
“Unfortunately, he was injured a lot this season, but he can still help a lot. Needless to say, he is a great player. May he recover quickly, because he is world champion and being 100 per cent will help us a lot.
“He has his personality, but that shouldn’t get in the way of any analysis.”
Read more from Fred on Pogba here
Club Brugge vs United squad news
United are holding both an open training session and a press conference today, before tomorrow evening’s Europa League game against Club Brugge.
We should get a good sense of the matchday squad Solskjaer will field by the end of the day.
Paul Pogba, Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford are all expected to be out.
Antero Henrique links
There has been a new name linked with the vacant technical director’s job at Manchester United in recent days.
Antero Henrique is the former Paris Saint-Germain and Porto sporting director and, according to reports, is already planning for a job at United.
Soccerlink have claimed the Portuguese has instructed his network of scouts to analyse transfer targets., in preparation for his move to United. He’s not the first name to have been linked with the job... yet still fans await an appointment in this role.
Scholes analysis of Martial
United legend Paul Scholes says he’s still not sure about Anthony Martial’s best position.
That’s despite Martial scoring a classic centre-forward’s header versus Chelsea.
“With Anthony Martial, it’s interesting, I don’t know if he’s a wide player, I don’t know if he’s a centre forward.
“Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] clearly thinks there’s a centre forward in there and he’s telling him to get in the box as often as he can.
“[Against Chelsea] he laboured at times to get in the box, he didn’t really bust a gut. You shouldn’t need to [tell a striker to get into the penalty box], but if you’re Anthony Martial he looks like he needs telling.
“He looks like he doesn’t take that much information in. Some players are like that, sometimes you tell them once and they’ll do it all the time.
“He looks like you need to tell him every two minutes, what you want him to do.”
Bailly masterclass
United fans will want it to continue.
Fred wants team improvement
Fred has admitted he’s enjoying the recent praise coming his way at United - but isn’t satisfied with the team’s performance.
This is what he said in an interview with UOL Esporte:
“Being highlighted now is very good, but there is the other side and unfortunately the team is not [doing] as well as it could be. We wanted to compete for the lead with Liverpool, but we are below Chelsea [and] Tottenham.
“It is part of football and we need to know how to deal with it and raise our heads, because we have a very high quality team.
“You have to be charged [to deal with pressure] because it is a gigantic team. When things don’t work out, it is logical that the fans will talk. And it’s up to us to deal with the pressure off the pitch.
“The crowd got used to seeing many titles due to the size that United has and she wants those moments again. They are right and they must always want it.”
United record vs Chelsea
Monday night was the continuation of a trend.
Mata warns about mistakes
Juan Mata has warned his Manchester United teammates they cannot afford to make many mistakes in their Europa League knockout campaign.
United take on Club Brugge tomorrow night, looking to progress in the competition that could yet provide their best route to qualification for next season’s Champions League.
And Mata has called for concentration from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad as he spoke to MUTV before the trip to Bruges.
“I think the key is not to make too many mistakes, because a very cheap goal can cost you in the competition.
“So it’s about being focused on what you have to do, to play at your best level and to try to grow into the competition. It’s different than the Premier League, you can lose a game but you still have a chance to come back and win more points.
“In the Europa League, if you have a bad day you can be out of the competition, so you have to be really 100 per cent focused in every game.”
'Spurs and Juve in Smalling race'
Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly in talks to sign Chris Smalling.
That’s according to Italian media outlet Corriere dello Sport, who again report Roma’s interest in doing a permanent deal for the on-loan Manchester United defender, but claim that Spurs, as well as Everton and even Juventus, are considering a surprise bid.
Smalling has impressed in Serie A and his future is very much up in the air, amid claims United could cash in for around £16million.
United legend's birthday
Happy Birthday to Paddy Crerand.
'James needs to be brought out of the team'
Manchester United’s Daniel James needs a spell out of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team.
That’s the verdict of former Arsenal great Paul Merson, who has criticised United’s lack of forward options, which is stunting James’ progress at the moment, he says.
He told Sky Sports that James— who enjoyed a fast start to life at United — needs to be dropped for the time being:
“With Manchester United, you’re talking about one of the biggest clubs in the world not having a centre forward.
“They’re playing with Daniel James up front, who sooner or later has to be taken out of the team. You feel sorry for the lad, now. He looks a bit lost if I’m honest - he needs a break.
“He’s playing all the time but his game is based on sheer pace. It won’t bring you much alone in the Premier League, and I feel for him.
“He needs to be brought out of the team but they’ve haven’t got anyone to bring in for him.”
About last night
Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho are two players Manchester United fans like to talk about, yet neither plays for their club or ever has done.
United of course held interest in Haaland before he went to Dortmund in January - and they were rather exasperated when the Norwegian scored two crucial goals for BVB against Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League last night.
As for Sancho, United fans are keen for him to be brought to Old Trafford in the summer.
United fans on Maguire and Maddison exchange
Manchester United fans have spammed the comment section of Harry Maguire’s latest Instagram post after transfer target James Maddison praised the skipper for his goal against Chelsea.
Maddison congratulated Maguire following his goal against Chelsea, writing: “Well done brother,” with a handshake emoji.
Even though the summer transfer window is a few months away, United fans were quick to try to facilitate Maddison’s move to Old Trafford and hijacked the comment section to his reply.
There were hundreds of replies from United supporters calling for the 23-year-old to make the switch as soon as possible.
Chelsea release statement on chants
Chelsea have released a statement alleging that a group of Manchester United fans made homophobic chants during their Monday night clash at Stamford Bridge.
This is what they said in a statement last night:
“At last night’s match a large group of Manchester United supporters made unacceptable homophobic chants
“This behaviour will not be tolerated.
“Those supporters will be banned from attending matches at Stamford Bridge in future and in cooperation with Manchester United we have passed the details of those supporters to them so they can take appropriate action.”
“Chelsea is a diverse and inclusive club and will always take firm action against all forms of discriminatory behaviour.”
Manchester United fans say the same thing after Jadon Sancho display vs Paris Saint-Germain
Manchester United fans have had their say on transfer target Jadon Sancho during Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League clash at home to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Reds are eager to add quality to their side during the summer transfer window and Sancho’s name is on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s wish list.
MEN understand United are targeting at least three new signings before the start of next season with Solskjaer keen to bring the winger back to the Premier League. Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish and Leicester City talisman James Maddison are also priority targets for the Reds.
Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo recalls bust up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Manchester United loanee Marcos Rojo has revealed how Jose Mourinho once had to intervene to prevent an argument between the Argentine and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from boiling over.
The dispute started during a training session, during which Mourinho told both players to calm down to reduce the risk of injuries to other players.
However, Mourinho’s warning didn’t work and he was later forced to step in as the quarrel continued into the dressing room.
John Terry makes Premier League top four prediction after Manchester United beat Chelsea
Former Chelsea defender John Terry has offered up his top-four verdict after Manchester United’s 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
The Reds trailed fourth-placed Chelsea by six points ahead of the game at Stamford Bridge but pulled off an important victory in the capital.
Anthony Martial headed home in the first half before Harry Maguire did the same after the break.
