Manchester United vs Omonia Nicosia Preview

Manchester United will welcome Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia to Old Trafford this Thursday for the fourth round of the UEL 2022/23 season.

The Red Devils come into the tie looking to win their third game of this UEL campaign and take a step closer to qualifying for the next stage of the Europa League.

They beat the Cypriot side 3-2 the last time both teams met in the reverse fixture with goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial leading Erik ten Hag’s men to a comeback win after the hosts had opened the scoring early in the first half.

Manchester United produced another comeback win over the weekend, this time against Everton. The Toffees scored in the sixth minute through Alex Iwobi, but Anthony and substitute Cristiano Ronaldo turned the fixture around for United. That goal was Ronaldo’s 700th goal in club football but his first league goal of the season.

With Anthony Martial picking up an injury in that game, there will be more pressure on Ten Hag to play Ronaldo more often. The former Real Madrid man did not score last time against Omonia Nicosia, but will certainly start this game as he has done in all three of Manchester United’s matches in the Europa League this season with a goal and an assist to show for it.

Meanwhile, the Old Trafford side come into this game sitting second in Group E, three points behind Real Sociedad. A win in this game will give them a grip on second place and will also take them a step closer to their objective.

Omonia Nicosia were expected to battle for the third spot in this group with fellow European outsiders Sheriff Tiraspol.

But while their Moldovan rivals have enjoyed some positive results, Omonia come into this tie sitting bottom of Group E with zero points after three rounds of football.

The visitors who are managed by former Celtic coach Neil Lennon look set to miss out on European football. However, with only three points separating them from third-placed Sheriff Tiraspol in third place, they will fancy their chances of still battling for a third-place finish that will qualify them to play in the Europa Conference League play-offs.

Their form ahead of this tie does not suggest they are ready to win. The Cypriot side have lost three of five matches amid a poor run of games both in the domestic league where they sit sixth after losing three and winning three of their last six games, including a 1-0 loss to AEL in their last outing.