Manchester United will host Villarreal at Old Trafford on matchday 2 of UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night.
We predict the match with the help of a few stats.
United lost their first match against Young Boys at the last minute quite unfortunately but they were heavily dominated by the Swiss team for the entirety of the match since Aaron Wan Bissaka was sent off at the 35-minute mark.
The Red Devils will surely look to make a strong comeback in the tournament in front of the home fans by winning the match against their Spanish opposition, also will look to avenge their Europa League final defeat last season to the same team.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored the only goal for United so far from an xG of 0.36, the lowest among all 32 sides.
Manchester United managed only two shots in the last match, both on target, however. Except that United could not possess any other threat whatsoever except one penalty cry from Ronaldo ruled out by the referee.
Villarreal on the other hand played out a 2-2 draw against Atalanta BC on the first matchday. Unai Emery’s men have scored two goals from an xG of 2.28 which has been the league average.
United have the highest ppda in the league currently 16.10 which shows the struggle they faced against Young Boys in bringing out the ball quickly and efficiently of their defensive third. They certainly will consider themselves unlucky for losing a match they started on the front foot leading, due to an unfortunate red card. Solskjaer’s ultra-defensive approach to defend their one-goal lead for 70 minutes approximately can certainly be questioned with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba still on the pitch. However, they would obviously look to improve in this area and win the ball higher up the pitch against Villarreal.
Villarreal with a ppda of 7.60 found it relatively easy to play the ball out of their back against Atalanta. Emery and his men can again try to hit United on the counters as they did in the Europa League final a few months ago.
Except Wan-Bissaka’s suspension, United have a full squad ready to face Villarreal only if any major injuries don’t hit the team against Aston Villa on Saturday in the Premier League.
Villarreal have dropped Gerard Moreno, Samu Chukuweze and Dani Raba from the match squad that will face Real Madrid this weekend due to injury. Only time will tell if the players will be fit and available for a trip to Old Trafford. Francis Coquelin misses the game anyway after picking up a red card against Atalanta.
Manchester United have lost their midweek match against West Ham and are out of the Carabao Cup. They are searching for their first UCL win and will come with all guns blazing. We need to keep an eye on how strong of a resistance Villarreal will put and hurt United on the break.
We predict a 2-1 win for Manchester United.
