Manchester United and Tottenham both have work to do in order to make it through to the Europa League quarter-finals.
United drew 1-1 with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their last-16 tie, while Spurs lost 1-0 to AZ Alkmaar. Both have home advantage in the second leg, though.
To preview Thursday night’s crunch clashes at Old Trafford and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, we’ve, er, crunched some numbers…
Manchester United (1) v (1) Real Sociedad
Manchester United have got used to facing Spanish opposition in European knockout ties – not since the 2020/21 Europa League semi-finals have they been drawn against a club from a different country – and they’re pretty familiar with Real Sociedad, too.
This will be United’s eighth encounter with the Basque outfit – and here’s one stat they might not want to fixate on: they’ve won only one of the previous three clashes at Old Trafford, the very first meeting between the sides back in 2013. That was a Champions League group game under David Moyes, who went on to manage Real Sociedad.
If Ruben Amorim’s side are to progress without the need for penalties, on which they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Fulham barely a week ago, they’ll have to snap a run of three straight 1-1 draws in all competitions – last week’s first leg in San Sebastian included – and win for just the second time in seven matches.
Tottenham (0) v (1) AZ Alkmaar
Tottenham must end a three-game winless stretch if they’re to advance beyond the last 16 of a European competition for the first time since 2019, when they reached the Champions League final.
Spurs salvaged a point through captain Son Heung-min’s late penalty at home to Bournemouth in the Premier League last time out, but their home form in recent months has been inconsistent to say the least.
Since winning six on the spin at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium between late September and early November, Ange Postecoglou’s team have won only four out of 14 home matches in all competitions, losing six. One of those six successive victories, however, was a 1-0 triumph over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League group phase – a repeat of which in 90 minutes would send this one to extra time.
