St Etienne v Manchester Utd
15:00
Man Utd virtually put this tie to bed with their 3-0 victory at Old Trafford and since then things have gotten even worse for St Etienne as they lost 2-1 at Montpellier on the weekend. Utd, on the other hand, made it four wins on the bounce in all competitions as they won 2-1 at Blackburn, meaning they’ve now lost only once in their last 24.
While St Etienne have struggled on their travels all season, they’re generally a tough side to beat on their own turf as they’ve lost only once at home in the league and they’re unbeaten in their 15 Europa League home games since 2008/09, though they did draw nine of these. They’ve already held the likes of Monaco and Marseille to draws at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, while they beat Lyon not long ago, and so we think they can salvage some pride.
Man Utd have lost eight of their last 10 European away games, including at the likes of Midtjylland and both Feyenoord and Fenerbahce in the group stages of this season’s competition. What’s more, sides that have won the first leg of a European knockout tie at home by three goals have lost the 2nd leg seven out of 10 times since 2012/13. With their League Cup final with Southampton coming up, there’s a good chance Utd could rest some of their players, so we’re backing St Etienne Draw No Bet at 2.4.
Betting intelligence provided by Football Form Labs
