Manchester United vs Real Betis Preview

Manchester United will continue their quest for a treble this season when they welcome Real Betis to Old Trafford for the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie.

The Red Devils suffered their biggest loss in a long time last weekend when they were beaten 7-0 by their biggest rivals Liverpool. The performance, described as ‘unprofessional’ by Erik ten Hag, saw United lose for the first time in 12 games.

They will look to pick themselves up at the Old Trafford faithful where they have been unbeaten since September (W17, D2). However, even the most optimistic Old Trafford fans will be aware that United’s last defeat on their own turf was to Spanish opposition in the form of Real Sociedad in this season’s group stage. Yet, they impressively knocked out Barcelona to get to this stagealthough they’ve been eliminated by Spanish opposition in each of their last five European campaigns.

Real Betis travel to Manchester in good form having not lost in their last four competitive games (W3, D1). Their last outing was a goalless draw with Real Madrid. That stalemate left Los Verdiblancos just three points adrift of the top four in La Liga.

Ahead of their first-ever trip to Old Trafford, the Andalusians will consider themselves in good shape mainly due to their recent form on the road where they have won each of their last three road trips, with the last two decided by a 3-2 scoreline.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side are also unbeaten in five UEL matches away from home (W4, D1) while sailing through the group stages without tasting defeat (W5, D1) so they’re unlikely to be intimidated by the Old Trafford crowd.