Man Utd v Young Boys predictions: Hosts to keep it clean

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester United v Young Boys in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Wednesday

Best bet

Manchester United to win to nil
1pt 6-4 general

Team news

Manchester United
Ralf Rangnick says he'll rotate his team with Dean Henderson and Donny van de Beek set to start. Jesse Lingard and Luke Shaw are back in training and could feature but Edinson Cavani and Raphael Varane are out.

Young Boys
Young Boys are hopeful Mohamed Camara will be fit to feature but Wilfried Kanga is a doubt, while David von Ballmoos, Cedric Zesiger, Ulisses Garcia and Felix Mambimbi are out.

Match preview

Clean sheets and control are top of Ralf Rangnick’s agenda at Manchester United and he should see his new charges achieve both in their final Champions League group-stage outing against Young Boys.

The 'Rangnickification' of Old Trafford began in earnest with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at the weekend and United’s interim head coach took great delight in both the result and shut out.

Visiting sides found it all too easy to breach the Red Devils under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - United kept only 25 clean sheets in 83 home games under the Norwegian. So their first home clean sheet since April was a good starting point for Rangnick, as was the high press and work rate his team demonstrated in the first half against Palace.

Having averaged four turnovers per game in the final third this season before Rangnick's arrival, United won possession 12 times in that area of the field on Sunday - their highest tally in any game since the halcyon days of Sir Alex Ferguson.

All metrics pointed towards a United team working hard for their new manager and although they weren’t able to sustain their efforts for 90 minutes, it was a positive start.

United will again hope to impress against Swiss visitors Young Boys, even though they have already sewn up top spot in Group F.

Fears of a second consecutive Champions League group-stage exit were raised by a shock 2-1 loss in Bern in their opening group game but United have recovered well, winning three of their next four games to qualify for the last 16.

With six Premier League games to come in a 24-day period after Wednesday's match, Rangnick says he'll rotate his side and has plenty of options at his disposal, even though the likes of Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane are still absent.

The same can’t be said for a Young Boys side beset by injuries to key players, with goalkeeper David von Ballmoos and last season's top scorer Jean-Pierre Nsame among those currently unavailable to head coach David Wagner.

The depleted visitors do have something to play for as they could snatch a Europa League berth with victory, but they’re rounding out 2021 with a whimper, winning just two of their last 11 matches.

Their two group games on the road have yielded no points or goals and they could be overwhelmed by a reinvigorated United.

Rangnick will have few concerns about his frontline’s ability to hurt Young Boys - United having scored at least twice in their last four Champions League outings - with more emphasis likely to be placed on keeping back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since March.

Key stat

Young Boys have scored once in the last five Champions League group stage away games.

Inside info

Manchester United

Penalty taker Bruno Fernandes
Free-kick wizard Bruno Fernandes
Set-piece aerial threat Eric Bailly
Card magnet Scott McTominay

Young Boys

Penalty taker Jordan Siebatcheu
Free-kick wizard Michel Aebischer
Set-piece aerial threat Sandro Lauper
Card magnet Michel Aebischer

Not got a bet365 account? Sign up today and get up to £100 in bet credits

Up to £100 in Bet Credits for new customers at bet365. Min deposit £5. Bet Credits available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.

CLAIM OFFER HERE

MORE FREE BETS

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport