Celta Vigo and Manchester United battle it out in Europa League semi-final
Published on May 2nd, 2017 4:38 pm ESTWritten By: Cian Murray
Manchester United go into their Europa League semi-final game against Celta Vigo knowing that this may be their best chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
They dropped points against Swansea at the weekend and don't look like a side capable of catching Liverpool or Manchester City, who sit in third and fourth respectively. This is partially because of the consistency City and Liverpool have shown throughout the season, but it's also partially due to the fact that United cannot stop drawing football matches.
In the Premier League alone, United have drawn 14 times, which is five more than any of the teams above them. Thus, picking out the draw as a possible result makes sense to us. It is priced at around 11/5 with most bookmakers.
Before you throw money down on what is potentially the most obvious result, let us tell you that United are missing seven of the first choice players for this encounter. Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly are the latest casualties on an extensive injury list which includes Swedish supremo Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the defensive pairing of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.
Thus, if Celta Vigo were ever going to overcome their 7/4 odds and beat United then this would be the prime opportunity.
It's not all negative for the Red Devils though. Their Spanish midfielder Juan Mata was back in the squad for the Swansea game and the former Chelsea player has proven time and time again that he is a game winner.
If you do want to back him to lead this United team to glory, you can back him at Red Devils' win at a price of 7/4. Mata himself is priced at 8/1 to get the first goal, although the fact that he will probably start on the bench make that bet not the wisest of wagers.
John Guidetti is no stranger to Manchester, having been a trainee with United's City rivals. The Swedish international will be keen to impress and get one over for his old side. He is priced at 6/1 to score the first goal.
United's own Swedish striker is out injured, so goal scoring duties are likely to fall at the feet of Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney. The younger of the duo, Rashford, is priced at 9/2 to get the first goal, while England's all-time leading goalscorer is priced at 11/2 to get the opener.
Celta Vigo also have former Liverpool player Iago Aspas on their books. The Spanish striker has bloomed since his return to Spain and even managed to get capped by the international side. Things never really took off for him on Merseyside, but Liverpool fans would forgive him if he could get a goal against their Manchester rivals.
He is priced at 11/2 to get the first goal in this game.