Real Sociedad v Man Utd predictions: Red Devils' defence should hold firm

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Real Sociedad v Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 5.45pm Thursday

Best bet

Manchester United to win to nil
2pts 3-1 general

Team news

Real Sociedad
Imanol Alguacil could have right-back Alex Sola back from injury but is without David Silva, Momo Cho and Umar Sadiq, who all played the reverse fixture. Mikel Oyarzabal and Martin Merquelanz are also out, while Ander Barrenetxea, Takefusa Kubo and Aihen Munoz are also unlikely to return from injury.

Manchester United
Striker Anthony Martial is back in training and could return to the bench but centre-back Raphael Varane is out until after the World Cup. Victor Lindelof (illness) and Antony (knock) will be assessed ahead of kick-off.

Match preview

Everything is set up for an exciting game in San Sebastian, with Manchester United and Real Sociedad battling it out for top spot in Europa League Group E.

Both teams have already qualified for the latter stages but there is still a significant prize on offer – whoever gets the result they need goes straight through to the round of 16, avoiding two additional games in the playoff round.

Manchester United must win by two goals to grab top spot, and with the runner-up potentially facing Barcelona, Sporting or Ajax in the playoffs, manager Erik ten Hag will demand his team goes for broke.

While Real Sociedad will not be playing under the sort of stress that a knockout tie brings, they could find themselves caught between two stalls as they weigh up whether to try and kill the tie or frustrate their visitors.

However, manager Imanol Alguacil is severely hampered by a number of injuries to key men and could be without as many as six of the players who claimed a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in September.

Former Manchester City playmaker David Silva is among those absentees and the injuries have seen Sociedad struggle of late, losing their last two La Liga games to nil against Real Betis and Real Valladolid.

A Manchester United side who have kept clean sheets in five of their last six outings should manage to shut out their injury-hit hosts, who have limited need to attack – then it’s up to the strikers to do their bit.

Key stat

Manchester United have lost only to Manchester City in their last seven away games, winning five.

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