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Tuesday 05 November 2024 14:00
Manchester United host Greek champions PAOK in the Europa League on Thursday, with kick-off set for 20:00 GMT.
The Reds are looking for a first European win of 2024/25, having taken three points from our three matches in this season’s competition. Draws at FC Porto and Fenerbahce followed September’s 1-1 with FC Twente at Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team for the third and penultimate time, ahead of Monday’s arrival of new head coach, Ruben Amorim.
Here’s what you need to know…
HOW TO WATCH AND FOLLOW
Tickets are still available for the game and you can show your support for the Reds by purchasing one from our official site.
If you can’t make it to Old Trafford, MUTV has you covered for all the pre-match build-up, as we stream player arrivals live with a brand-new show in the late afternoon.
Matchday Live then begins at 18:55 GMT, with team news, exclusive interviews and analysis from our pundits, Wes Brown and Phil Bardsley.
TNT Sports are broadcasting the game live for UK viewers.
TEAM NEWS
Ruud has admitted that United are ‘thin in midfield’, with Christian Eriksen joining the list of absentees last week.
Kobbie Mainoo continues to be sidelined, meaning Victor Lindelof deputised in the middle as a substitute on Sunday and 17-year-olds Jayce Fitzgerald and Jack Fletcher watched on from the bench.
Mason Mount has subsequently returned to full training, while Bruno Fernandes returns from his one-match European suspension. Apart from this, Ruud’s options are likely to be similar to the weekend, although he could provide a further update on Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw in Wednesday’s press conference.
One familiar face in PAOK’s squad will not be involved, as former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren has not been registered for the competition. Captain Vieirinha – a 38-year-old veteran who scored against United for Wolfsburg in 2015 – is also ineligible.
Ex-Aston Villa striker Mbwana Samatta is another player who is unavailable, while Tiemoue Bakayoko has been injured.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PAOK
This is our first-ever meeting with the Salonika club, who are the most successful Greek side outside the traditional ‘Big Three’, which consists of Athens outfits AEK, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos.
That trio have claimed all but eight of the national championships played so far, with PAOK accounting for four of those successes, in 1976, 1985, 2019 and 2024. Razvan Lucescu’s side pipped AEK to the title by two points last term, qualifying for the Champions League play-offs, where they were eliminated over two legs by Malmo.
The second-city club, who can count Dimitar Berbatov among their alumni, are the only Greek team with more wins than losses in European competition, and they have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Conference League in two of the past three seasons under the guidance of Lucescu.
The Romanian, son of the legendary former Shakhtar Donetsk boss Mircea, is their most successful manager having masterminded a league-and-cup double in his previous spell at the helm.
FORM GUIDE
PAOK have already played nine games in Europe this season, defeating Shamrock Rovers in a play-off tie to make it to the league phase of this competition.
After narrow defeats to Galatasaray and FCSB, they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Viktoria Plzen last time out, at their atmospheric Toumba Stadium. The title-holders’ domestic form has been more impressive, and they sit just one point behind city rivals Aris after 10 games of the Greek Super League season, although there was criticism following a home derby loss in September.
Last weekend’s 3-0 win over Egaleo in the first leg of the last-16 Greek Cup tie featured a first PAOK goal for Shola Shoretire, the Academy graduate who left United during the summer.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Lucescu prefers a 4-2-3-1 formation, with his full-backs playing high and wide. Guinea international Mady Camara is the midfield destroyer who allows the likes of Jonny and Baba Rahman to roam forward, while Andrija Zivkovic and Taison are dangerous on the flanks, with the latter offering a more traditional wing option to the Serbian’s preference for cutting inside.
Giannis Konstantelias is arguably PAOK’s most valuable player and the creative young midfielder came up clutch with nine goals and six assists during the title-winning campaign. Konstantelias is being coveted by some of Europe’s elite clubs and will look to make an impact again on English soil, a month after featuring for Greece in their first-ever victory over the Three Lions at Wembley.
OTHER FIXTURES
WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER
Besiktas v Malmo (15:30 GMT)
THURSDAY 7 NOVEMBER
17:45 GMT
Bodo/Glimt v Qarabag
Eintracht Frankfurt v Slavia Prague
Elfsborg v Braga
FCSB v FC Midtjylland
Galatasaray v Tottenham
Ludogorets v Athletic Club
Nice v FC Twente
Olympiacos v Rangers
Union Saint-Gilloise v Roma
20:00 GMT
Ajax v Maccabi Tel Aviv
AZ v Fenerbahce
Dynamo Kyiv v Ferencvaros
Hoffenheim v Lyon
Lazio v FC Porto
UNITED v PAOK
RFS v Anderlecht
Viktoria Plzen v Real Sociedad
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Tuesday 05 November 2024 14:00
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