Manchester United travel to the Mestalla on Wednesday hoping to cap what has been an ultimately successful Champions League Group H campaign by defeating Valencia.
Jose Mourinho’s men have already secured qualification to the last 16, while top spot is still up for grabs if Juventus slip up unexpectedly against Young Boys.
The Spaniards, meanwhile, have nothing to play for but pride, as they are already assured of finishing third, no matter the outcome of the game.
| Game | Valencia vs Manchester United |
| Date | Wednesday, December 12 |
| Time | 8pm BST / 3pm EST |
| Stream (US) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial) .
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| TNT USA | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on BT Sport 3 and streamed on the BT Sport app.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| BT Sprot 3 | BT Sport app |
Squads & Team News
| Position | Valencia squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Neto, Domenech, Rivero |
| Defenders | Piccini, Gabriel, Diakhaby, Gaya, Murillo, Lato, Vezo |
| Midfielders | Soler, Kondogbia, Parejo, Guedes, Wass, Coquelin, Torres |
| Forwards | Rodrigo, Santi, Gameiro, Batshuayi |
Valencia will be without Goncalo Guedes, their star attacker, for this encounter because of a minor injury that has not been deemed worth taking a risk over.
With nothing weighing on the outcome of the tie, it may be that injury doubts Jeison Murillo, Gabriel and Kevin Gameiro are omitted, too.
Jose Gaya, meanwhile, is banned.
Possible Valencia starting XI: Neto; Piccini, Garay, Diakhaby, Lato; Soler, Parejo, Kondogbia, Cheryshev; Rodrigo, Mina
| Position | Man United players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | De Gea, Romero, Grant |
| Defenders | Lindelof, Bailly, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw, Darmian |
| Midfielders | Pogba, Mata, Lingard, Pereira, Fred, Young, Herrera, Matic, Garner, McTominay, Hamilton |
| Forwards | Sanchez, Lukaku, Rashford, Martial, Chong |
Manchester United are still bereft of injured duo Victor Lindelof and Alexis Sanchez. Jose Mourinho, meanwhile, will wait on Luke Shaw, Eric Bailly and Anthony Martial.
A packed fixture schedule, including a match with Liverpool on Sunday, means that numerous changes are expected in the starting XI, with Paul Pogba among those liable to be handed a chance.
Possible Man Utd starting XI: De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Rojo, Darmian; Pogba, Fred; Mata, Lingard, Rashford; Lukaku
Betting & Match Odds
Valencia start this game as 8/5 favourites to pick up the victory with bet365. Man Utd can be backed at 19/10 while a draw is priced at 12/5.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Match Preview
The climate around Manchester United at present is such that there is a sense that Jose Mourinho and his side are only one defeat away from crisis.
Although they are undefeated in their last five, until Saturday’s thumping 4-1 win over Premier League basement side Fulham, they had been wholly unconvincing, doing little to lift the pressure on the embattled Portuguese, whose target of reaching the top four by the end of 2018 already seems unattainable.
For once, though, he will have the luxury of going into a match without the weight of the world on his shoulders.
United have already progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League, and while first place is on the line when they tackle Valencia, the prospects of Young Boys doing the favour they require against Juventus appear slim.
Indeed, the focus of the week will be towards Sunday’s big clash with Premier League leaders Liverpool – a game that the fans, in particular, will attach a good deal more importance to.
Likewise, for Valencia, who lie a lowly 15th in the Primera Division standings, Saturday’s match away to Eibar is the most important of their week. They are third in Group H and cannot move, having won one, drawn two and lost two of their fixtures to date.
Let’s block ads!