Can José Mourinho pile further misery on his former side in the UEFA Europa League? We look ahead to Thursday’s clash between Fenerbahçe and Manchester United.
Fenerbahçe vs Man Utd Stats: The Key Insights
- The Opta supercomputer narrowly predicts Fenerbahçe to win, with the hosts victorious in 38.8% of pre-match simulations.
- Manchester United have won just one of their last 10 matches in major European competition.
- José Mourinho has won just two of his last 17 games against sides he’s previously managed.
Manchester United will meet a familiar face when they visit José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe for Thursday’s Europa League clash.
Erik ten Hag’s side are yet to win in UEFA’s secondary club competition this term, having been held at home to Twente before a chaotic 3-3 draw with Porto before the international break.
Harry Maguire scored a late header to salvage a point in Porto, where Bruno Fernandes was dismissed to leave him suspended for this clash, though it remained unclear whether that draw would be enough to keep Ten Hag’s job secure.
The Dutchman subsequently survived the October international break, but could have been fearing the worst after Ethan Pinnock edged Brentford ahead in Saturday’s Premier League clash.
Alejandro Garnacho levelled soon after the interval, though, before Rasmus Højlund netted just past the hour to secure a much-needed 2-1 win for United.
Ten Hag will hope his team can carry the positivity from that triumph into Thursday’s continental action, though United have won just one of their last 10 European matches (D4 L5). United’s five-game winless run in Europe is their longest since a six-match stretch between 1980 and 1983.
Mourinho knows all too well about the cauldron of Old Trafford pressure, having managed the club between 2016 and 2018, and guided the Red Devils to a two-trophy season when lifting the Europa League and EFL Cup in the 2016-17 campaign.
The veteran Portuguese boss will be in no mood to do his former employers a favour, however, knowing another defeat will only further increase the growing scrutiny over Ten Hag’s future.
Delivering that gut-wrenching blow may be more unlikely than first expected, though, as Mourinho has registered just two wins in his last 17 games against sides he has previously managed (D4 L11).
A 6-1 victory against United as the Tottenham boss in October 2020 was one of those victories against his plethora of old clubs, and Mourinho will hope to inflict similar pain at Fenerbahçe’s European fortress.
The Turkish giants are unbeaten in their last seven games at home in the Europa League, winning four of their last five clashes on their own turf.
Mourinho is yet to make an impression on the Turkish Süper Lig, however, with Fenerbahçe fourth in the table after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Samsunspor. Dušan Tadic and Allan Saint-Maximin were on target before Soner Aydogdu snatched a late leveller.
Fenerbahçe vs Man Utd Head-to-Head
Manchester United have lost both of their last two trips to Fenerbahçe across all competitions, falling to a 3-0 defeat in December 2004 and 2-1 loss in November 2016.
Coincidentally, that latter defeat came in the Europa League group stage when Mourinho was in charge of United, before the Portuguese boss guided them to the trophy in the same season.
Though strong at home, Fenerbahçe have a mixed record against United, alternating between winning and losing in each of their last six meetings with the Red Devils.
Fenerbahçe vs Man Utd Prediction
The Opta supercomputer appears somewhat split on Thursday’s clash, though Fenerbahçe came out on top in 38.8% of 10,000 pre-match simulations.
United still hold a 34.7% chance of winning in Turkey according to the same data-led sims, while the draw was ranked at 26.5%.
Owing to their poor start in the competition, Ten Hag’s side are ranked as the eighth favourites to win the tournament in Opta’s predictions (4.9%), while Fenerbahçe sit as the 11th most likely to lift the trophy, doing so in just 3.1% of season simulations.
Fenerbahçe vs Man Utd Europa League Squads
Fenerbahçe: Serdar Aziz, Samet Akaydin, Caglar Söyüncü, Alexander Djiku, Mert Müldür, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Munir Mercan, Jayden Oosterwolde, Rodrigo Becão, Yusuf Akcicek, Ismail Yüksek, Mert Yandas, Fred, Irfan Can Kahveci, Filip Kostic, Bartug Elmaz, Sofyan Amrabat, Muhammet Zeki Dursun, Sebastian Szymanski, Edin Dzeko, Dusan Tadic, Youssef En-Nesyri, Cengiz Ünder, Cenk Tosun, Oguz Aydin, Allan Saint-Maximin
Head Coach: José Mourinho
Man Utd: Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton, André Onana, Victor Lindelöf, Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez, Tyrell Malacia, Leny Yoro, Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans, Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen, Casemiro, Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo, Rasmus Højlund, Marcus Rashford, Joshua Zirkzee, Amad Diallo, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony.
Head Coach: Erik ten Hag
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off on Thursday, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
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