Manchester United Europa League: Route to the Final, Odds, Squad, Predictions

Manchester United will shortly resume their Europa League campaign and the Red Devils are the favourites to win the competition with odds of 2/1. just three seasons after lifting the title in Sweden.

A place in the quarter-final is pretty much guaranteed as they head into their round of 16 second leg tie with Austrian side LASK Linz with a 5-0 advantage to their name. Should they win the Europa League, they will become the ninth consecutive winner of the competition to have come from either Spain or England.

Although many United fans may recognise the Europa League as a competition of low priority considering they will be in next season's Champions League and won the elite competition just 12 years ago, this might mean the world to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Norwegian manager is yet to win a trophy as a manager for the Red Devils and getting the first one out the way is always the biggest issue facing a boss at such a big club.

Barring an almighty collapse against LASK Linz, who finished fourth in the Austrian Bundesliga, United will qualify for the quarter-finals with ease before they fly to Germany for the remainder of the competition.

Awaiting them in last eight will either be Istanbul Basaksehir or Copenhagen. The Turkish side have recently won the Turkish top flight for the first time in their history and have never reached the quarter-final stage of the Europa League before. They will travel to the Danish capital for the second leg of their tie and go into it with a 1-0 advantage thanks to Edin Visca's late penalty.

United should have enough to beat either of these two sides but one important factor is that ties will be decided by a single leg so Solskjaer will be aware that when the tie comes around, a single mistake could become costly and lead to a premature exit.

Six days after their (potential) quarter-final tie, they will be in action, once again in Cologne, to face one of either VFL Wolfsburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Eintracht Frankfurt or FC Basel. Both of those German sides are currently trailing in their respective Round of 16 ties so a match-up between Donetsk or Basel appears the more likely which United will be grateful for.

If United manage to go all the way to the final, they will go up against either Inter Milan, Getafe, Rangers, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, Olympiakos, Europa League specialists Sevilla or fellow English side Wolves. Some of those teams that United could potentially face in the final are capable of putting up a good fight and could take United all the way.

Wolves have proven in the last two years that they can beat the Red Devils whilst Inter Milan used to be European giants and Sevilla are the most successful club in the competition's history, winning it five times, the first of which came in 2006.

United's fortunes this season have turned around completely since the signing of Bruno Fernandes. Since the Portuguese international made his debut for the club, United have been unstoppable and have not lost a league game. This run of form saw Solskjaer's side go from 14 points behind Leicester with 14 games remaining and finished the season four points and two places above the Foxes.

Despite the FA Cup disappointment against Chelsea, United have had an excellent 2020 thus far and winning UEFA's second tier club competition would be a great achievement to conclude their season and, considering the 2/1 odds of them going all the way, the trophy is arguably theirs to lose.

They are capable of winning the competition for a second time, but with matches being decided by a single leg from the quarter-final stage, one mistake could potentially make their hard work go to waste.

The likes of Inter and Leverkusen are going to be a concern for United fans, but over one leg, the Red Devils faithful should still be confident in winning the title.

Since the departure of Alex Ferguson in 2013, United have struggled to live up to their worldwide reputation and dominate even domestic competitions. The real desire among fans is to be back competing and going far in the Champions League like they did under the United legend rather than playing Thursday night football.

As for this season, Solskjaer would love to round off his first full season in charge at Old Trafford with some silverware but United fans were in this position and won the competition just three years ago. One important factor going into these matches is that Solskjaer managed to secure Champions League qualification through the league this season so winning the trophy might not mean the world to United fans but they will surely be happy with the bonuses of prize money and potentially a higher seeding in next season's Champions League sroup stage draw.

United have added youth players Teden Mengi and Ethan Bird to their Europa League squad in what is their last chance at winning something this year. Solskjaer is expected to rest his elite men at any chance, given how the new Premier League season starts in September.

However, plenty of youth names have been included within the United Europa League squad and they are expected to get a lot of game time.

By Rob Spereall