Comments and predictions for MU vs Lyon: Late explosion at Old Trafford
The match between MU vs Lyon in Europa League takes place at 2:00 am on April 18. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes performance, football commentary and predicts the score.
Latest MU vs Lyon squad information
Man United will be without Joshua Zirkzee, who picked up a hamstring injury in the defeat to Newcastle and will be out for “a few games”, according to manager Amorim. He joins Matthijs de Ligt, Amad Diallo, Ayden Heaven (ankle), Lisandro Martinez (knee), Jonny Evans (back) and Toby Collyer (leg).
With young talent Chido Obi-Martin ineligible for European competition, Rasmus Hojlund is likely to be the only available striker, supported by Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho, who ended a 27-game goal drought with a goal against Newcastle.
Andre Onana sat out last weekend's game to "temporarily clear his head", but is likely to return to start in place of Altay Bayindir on Thursday.
Harry Maguire and Patrick Dorgu are expected to return to the squad at centre-back and left-back, while Casemiro and Mason Mount will compete for a starting spot alongside Manuel Ugarte in midfield.
On Lyon's side, star winger Ernest Nuamah will miss the rest of the season due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Malick Fofana is also out due to a knee problem.
Rayan Cherki – who has made 11 appearances in the Europa League this season (3 goals, 8 assists) – will continue to be the biggest hope in attack, alongside Thiago Almada and either Lacazette or Mikautadze.
Matic could be rested to make way for Jordan Veretout, while Paul Akouokou could be recalled in midfield. In defence, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Clinton Mata and Nicolas Tagliafico are all ready to start.
Latest expected lineup for MU vs Lyon
Manchester United:
Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro; Dalot, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dorgu; Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund
Lyon:
Perri; Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico; Vererout, Tolisso, Akouokou; Almada; Cherki, Mikautadze
Latest football commentary on MU vs Lyon
After a war of words with Nemanja Matic before the first leg, Andre Onana failed to prove his critics wrong when he was at fault for both goals as Lyon secured a dramatic draw at home.
Joshua Zirkzee looked to have given United the win in the 88th minute, but Rayan Cherki – who has been linked with a move to Old Trafford – capitalised on Onana's mistake to level the score at 2-2 in the 95th minute, finishing with class.
Things got worse for Man United last weekend when they lost 1-4 at Newcastle in the Premier League, in a match full of individual errors – it was their 14th defeat this season in the domestic league, officially making them reach the lowest points tally in the Premier League era.
Currently, the Red Devils are ranked 14th with only 38 points after 32 rounds and can completely fall to 17th place when the season ends. Hope of qualifying for the European Cup through the Premier League is almost impossible, when they are 10 points behind the top 8 and 17 points behind the top 5.
Knowing that winning the Europa League is the only way to qualify for next season's Champions League, Man United must win on Thursday. Although they have lost their last two home games against French sides (PSG in 2019 and 2020), they have never lost to Lyon in five meetings (W2 D3), and are still the only team unbeaten in the Europa League this season (W6 D5).
As for Lyon, after the first-leg draw, they still have a chance to win their first European title in history and reach the semi-finals of the European Cup for the first time since the 2019-20 Champions League. Last weekend, they continued their excitement when they defeated Auxerre 3-1 in Ligue 1 with goals from Cherki, Mikautadze and Lacazette.
Lyon are currently fourth in Ligue 1 and just one point behind Marseille – who have secured the final Champions League spot – and have won seven of their last nine games in all competitions since the start of March, scoring 24 goals.
Remarkably, Lyon are unbeaten in 12 consecutive away games in the Europa League (W9 D3) since a 1-0 loss to Atalanta in December 2017. They have also lost just one of their last nine away games in Europe – a 3-0 defeat to West Ham in 2021-22.
However, Lyon have never beaten Man United in five meetings – only a longer winless streak against Barcelona (8 games) is bettered. They have also lost both of their visits to Old Trafford (2-1 in 2004 and 1-0 in 2008), and have never progressed past the European knockout stages after drawing the first leg at home – a feat that has happened nine times before.
Latest MU vs Lyon score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.MU vs Lyonas follows:
- Sportsmole:MU 3-1 Lyon
- WhoScore:MU 3-2 Lyon
- Our newspaper predicts:MU 3-2 Lyon
When and where to watch MU vs Lyon live?
To watch live the MU vs Lyon match in the Europa League taking place at 2:00 a.m. on April 18, viewers can watch onK+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.