Manchester United deepened their crisis on Saturday when they were completely outplayed by West Ham United at London Stadium. The 3-1 loss made it three games on the spin without a victory for Jose Mourinho and his men, a thread which includes the League Cup elimination against Frank Lampard’s Derby County at Old Trafford.
The Special One has his job on the line as there are frequent rumours of Man Utd negotiating Zinedine Zidane as team’s new boss. To make things worse, Mourinho is in awful relation with some of his first team regulars, namely Paul Pogba. The second round tie against Valencia will be of a huge importance for the Red Devils, but they will come into it in a disastrous atmosphere. Can the hosts rise on the Champions League evening?
Manchester United vs Valencia: Head-to-head
Manchester United have a positive record in head to head games with the Bats.The Red Devils won three and drew three of six meetings with Valencia.Their previous official meetings happened eight years ago in the group stage of the Champions League (0-1 for Manchester at Mestalla and 1-1 at Old Trafford).Interestingly, five of six head to head games ended with less than three goals scored.
Manchester United vs Valencia: Prediction
Backing a low-scoring contest looks just to be the way to go here based on everything written above. Valencia play super tight at the back at the start of the season. This is why just one of eight matches they played in all competitions saw the Under 2.5 goals FT come in.
Such streak includes a 0-2 loss to ten-man Juventus in the first round. The Bats know they just can’t afford a defeat here and we expect them to sit at the back and wait for their chances from counter-attacks.
Marcelino’s defense did well on Saturday afternoon when the Bats won their first league game of the season beating Real Sociedad 0-1 at Anoeta.
The value is massive with the visitors who are 2.20 to leave Old Trafford undefeated.