Manchester United vs Villarreal: Champions League preview, team news, stats, kick-off time

Harry Maguire is to miss out on hosts in today’s match. What can Manchester United learn from the Europa League defeat?

Team news and stats ahead of Man Utd vs Villarreal in the Champions League group stage on Thursday; kick-off at 12.30 am.

Team news:

Manchester United will be without Harry Maguire against Villarreal. As the defender was ruled out for a “few weeks” with a calf injury.

The 28-year-old center-back missed facing the Spanish side in United’s Europa League final defeat in May. He limped off in the second half of Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League.

“Luke has been in [on Tuesday], so I’ll give him a chance to be involved,” United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said.
“Harry is more or less out. It doesn’t look good. So, apart from that, from the bruised pride from the result, we should be ready to go.”

Pushed on Maguire’s situation, Solskjaer said: “It’s his calf. That might take a few weeks, so let’s see how quickly he recovers.”

Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo trained away from the main group on Tuesday. As they continue rehabilitation from injury, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka will miss out through suspension after being sent off in his side’s shock 2-1 loss at Young Boys.

Manchester United vs Villareal:

Villarreal will be without two key players for the clash.
Midfielder Francis Coquelin is suspended, while striker Gerard Moreno – who scored in the Gdansk final as well as netting his penalty in the Spaniards’ dramatic 11-10 shootout win – is injured.

Solskjaer embracing pressure: ‘I’m here to win’
Solskjaer again underlined his determination to bring silverware back to Manchester United ahead of the game.
United finished as Premier League runners-up last season and reached the Europa League final, only for their bid to win the first trophy under Solskjaer to end in a galling penalty-shootout loss to Villarreal.

Four months on, the clubs are going toe-to-toe in the Champions League group stage as United looks to bounce back from three losses in four matches in all competitions.

The run of results has led to renewed scrutiny and Solskjaer said: “It’s still not a must-win game but it’s a very important game.

“As I said after Young Boys, home games if you get three wins and you win one away game then you should be through, or you will be through.

“The focus is on three points. We’ve been looking at Villarreal again, looking at the final, what we can do better, what worked and what was good in that game and we’ll get a good response from the weekend, of course.”

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