Partizan v Manchester United, Porto v Rangers and more: Europa League – live!

24 October 2019 04:52
Updates from the evening’s Europa League group gamesLive scores: all the goals as they go in around EuropeEmail Daniel here or tweet @DanielHarris 5.52pm BST I should note that Nuno has picked a strong team in Bratislava. I daresay he fancies a long run in this competition and why not? Wolves are an absolute bastard to play against, and have the attackers to give any team agita. 5.51pm BST The players are tunnelled. 5.49pm BST “The improved performance against Liverpool has me hopeful about United again,” says Duncan Edwards. “In my optimism I see us winning the Europa, finishing third in the league, signing the Norwegian Beast, and challenging for the title next season. Ah, hope.”United could still make the top four – when people criticise them, they forget to note that they’ve been missing six of their first XI. I’d still have spent the Maguire money on the midfield, but I understand why Solskjaer didn’t. 5.44pm BST Steven Gerrard tells BT that his team need to show belief in and out of possession, have a structure and defend aggressively. He also says that his ball-carriers and fast players – his “one v one merchants” – have to take responsibility when they can, but he accepts that Porto will have a lot of the ball. He’s looking forward to watching Barker, who’s been picked with that in mind. 5.40pm BST Partizan were meant to be playing behind closed doors after racism from their crowd, but managed to get around the ban on a technicality, giving tickets away for free to kids and such. In the BT studio, Robin van Persie makes the point that walking off should not be a responsibility foisted upon the players – the officials should intervene on their behalf. 5.38pm BST Other things to note about United’s XI: Martial, whose ambling shift against Liverpool was not at all good but whom United have unarguably missed, returns from the start; Lingard, who’s been horrible for months, is also back; and Jimmy Garner, who is now far too good for age-group football, makes his first start. I believe there are reservations about his power and speed, but he’s an intelligent and incisive passer of the ball. 5.35pm BST So, do Manchester United now play 3-5-2? That they’re doing so tonight, with radically different personnel to those who played against Liverpool, suggests a policy decision. And it’s not an inexplicable decision, given a surfeit a centre-backs and an absence of wingers. The question is whether something that worked against Liverpool, who demand a special plan, is necessarily something that will work all the time. In the end, it’s not possible to hide that midfield and that’s all there is to it. 5.32pm BST Slovan Bratislava: Greif; Medvedev, Abena, Bozhikov, De Marco; Ibrahim, De Kamps; Daniel, Holman, Rharsalla; Sporar. Subs: Sulla, Ljubicic, Drazic, Ratao, Nono, Bajric, Cavric.Wolverhampton Wanderers: Patricio; Boly, Coady, Kilman; Doherty, Saiss, Gibbs-White, Moutinho, Vinagre; Jimenez, Cutrone. Subs: Ruddy, Jonny, Perry, Neves, Dendoncker, Traore, Jota. 5.30pm BST Porto: Marchesin, Corona, Pepe, Marcano, Alex Telles, Otavio, Uribe, Danilo Pereira, Diaz, Marega, Ze Luis. Subs: Bruno Costa, Nakajima, Manafa, Mbemba, Tiquinho Soares, Diogo Costa, Silva.Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Davis, Barker, Jack, Kamara, Kent, Morelos. Subs: Defoe, Ojo, Foderingham, Flanagan, Aribo, Katic, Arfield. 5.29pm BST Partizan: Stojkovic, Pavlovic, Natcho, Tosic, Sadiq, Asano, Zdjelar, Soumah, Ostojic, Urosevic, Miletic. Subs: Vujacic, Lazar Pavlovic, Ivanovic, Scekic, Brezancic, Filip Stevanovic, Nemanja Stevanovic.Manchester United: Romero, Jones, Maguire, Rojo, Wan-Bissaka, McTominay, Garner, Williams, Mata, Lingard, Martial. Subs: Lindelof, Rashford, Grant, Andreas Pereira, Fred, James, Greenwood. 5.24pm BST Right, let’s have some teams. 4.01pm BST Thursday night, five to six, Thursday night, five to six. But of course! What else is to drink do at that time of the week, other than watch yet another football match? Exactly! For those who like their football awful and hilarious, we have Partizan v Manchester United – United’s games against Astana and AZ were epochally awful, and there’s a good chance we’ll get to enjoy more of the same. Continue readingreadfullarticle

Source: TheGuardian