Lyon vs Man Utd tips:
Manchester United face the tricky trip to Lyon on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final, in their final hope for silverware.
This season has largely been one to forget for United fans but they could still enjoy one last hurrah in Bilbao and win the Europa League for the second time.
Despite the football betting sites having United as the second favourites to win the trophy they will have to show more intent than they did in the Manchester derby on Sunday if they are to even make it past Thursday’s opponents, who with eight wins from their last 10 matches will fancy their chances.
United go into the game with just three wins from their last 10 and consistency has been a huge problem for Ruben Amorim’s side so much so that they haven’t won back-to-back games in the Premier League all season.
In the Europa League though United are the only side still unbeaten, although they did draw their first three matches, under then manager Erik ten Hag.
They have won six of their last seven matches, their only draw coming in the last round when they were held to a 1-1 draw away at Real Sociedad before beating them 4-1 at home to reach the last eight.
Lyon vs Man Utd prediction: Home advantage to be the key
The inconsistency mentioned earlier makes this one a tough game to call. On paper, there should only be one winner but it all depends on which United turns up.
Will it be the one that beat Manchester City and Arsenal and drew with Liverpool or the one that has lost to Tottenham three times this season as well as Wolves and West Ham.
They currently sit 13th in the Premier League table, 33 points behind the leaders Liverpool and 18 above the relegation zone, while Lyon sit fifth in Ligue 1, 26 points behind newly crowned champions PSG.
To get an idea of how the two sides compare they have both faced three of the same teams in this season’s Europa League.
Lyon beat Rangers 4-1 at Ibrox, while United beat them 2-1 at home and while the Reds drew 1-1 away at Fenerbahce the French side were held to a goalless draw there.
They also both played FCSB with United beating them 2-0 in the final league match before Lyon beat them 7-1 over two legs last time out.
They have only met twice before, both in the Champions League, and United lead the head-to-head 2-0 but this will be their first meeting since 2008.
This is United’s 28th quarter-final appearance in a Uefa competition, which is an English record, and they won the tournament back in 2017.
Under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho, they beat Ajax 2-0 in the final in Stockholm, thanks to goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, while current players Andre Onana and Matthijs de Ligt started for Ajax.
United have kept just two clean sheets in their 10 matches so far, while Lyon have scored in eight of their 10 so both teams to score seems a good bet, especially with betting sites offering 7/10.
I am tempted by a narrow win for the home side before United win the tie back at Old Trafford.
Lyon vs Man Utd prediction 1: Lyon to win and BTTS - 15/4 William Hill
Lyon vs Man Utd betting tips: Former Gunner to find the net
Former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette has just hit form at the right time with six goals in his last nine games, to take his tally for the season to 15.
He netted twice against Brest in the league and Rangers in this competition and bagged a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Nice earlier this season.
The 33-year-old has played against United nine times in all competitions before, only scoring once in the 3-1 home defeat back in 2017.
Betting apps are offering 9/4 on him scoring at any time and the fact United have only kept 11 clean sheets in 48 games should give the experienced striker belief that he can get on the scoresheet on Thursday. You can also get 6/1 on him scoring first and 13/2 on him scoring last.
Lyon vs Man Utd prediction 2: Lacazette to score at any time- 21/10 William Hill
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