Vying for a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Manchester United and Real Sociedad lock horns at Old Trafford for the second leg of their last-16 tie on Thursday night.
The two teams are level at 1-1 after last week's first leg in San Sebastian where Joshua Zirkzee's opener was cancelled out by a 70th-minute penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal.
Match preview
© Imago
Three days after sharing the spoils with Real Sociedad in Spain, Man United played out another 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday, with a superb yet controversial Bruno Fernandes free kick cancelled out by Declan Rice's second-half equaliser.
The Red Devils are guaranteed to end their domestic campaign trophyless and as they languish 14th in the Premier League table, 13 points behind the top five with 10 matches remaining, the pressure is on Ruben Amorim to deliver Europa League glory if the club wishes to qualify for next season's Champions League.
Not only on-field matters at Man United have caught the headlines this week, as co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has delivered his verdict on several key issues around the club, ranging from financial troubles to the impact of Amorim in a series of wide-ranging interviews, while also announcing plans to build a new 100,000 seater stadium.
The immediate priority for Amorim and co is getting results on the pitch, and while they may have struggled on the domestic front this term, they remain the only team in the Europa League who are yet to lose in this season's competition (W5 D4), winning each of their last three games at Old Trafford.
Man United have, in fact, lost only one of their last 28 Europa League home matches (W21 D6), but that solitary defeat was inflicted by none other than Real Sociedad, who secured a slender 1-0 group-stage triumph in September 2022 courtesy of a second-half penalty from Brais Mendez.
© Imago
Real Sociedad's first-leg draw with Man United represents their only positive result across their last four fixtures, as they have lost each of their last three domestic games including last weekend's 1-0 home defeat to Sevilla in La Liga.
Having previously suffered a heavy 4-0 loss at Barcelona, La Real came unstuck by a sweeping Sevilla counter-attack finished off by Chidera Ejuke just a minute after the restart, and they went on to lose their 13th La Liga game of the season as well as their sixth in nine top-flight matches in 2025.
Similarly to Man United, Imanol Alguacil's side may be required to go all the way in the Europa League if they wish to qualify for next season's Champions League, as they have slipped to 11th in the La Liga table and 15 points behind the top four with 11 games remaining; they are also 10 points behind the top five and a guaranteed Europa League spot for next season.
Real Sociedad head into Thursday's contest having lost six of their last eight away matches in all competitions as well as two of their last three on the road in the Europa League, but La Real are unbeaten across their last two visits to Old Trafford (W1 D1) and have kept a clean sheet on both occasions.
The San Sebastian-based outfit, who beat FC Midtjylland 2-1 in the playoff round in their last European away game, are bidding to progress beyond the last 16 of major European competition for the first time in the 21st century.
Team News
© Imago
Man United boss Amorim has confirmed that Leny Yoro (foot) and Harry Maguire (knock) are both ruled out and have joined Lisandro Martinez (knee), Amad Diallo (ankle), Kobbie Mainoo (calf), Luke Shaw (hamstring), Jonny Evans (muscle), Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton (both unspecified) in the treatment room, while Chido Obi-Martin is ineligible for the Europa League.
Mason Mount has returned to team training this week after a lengthy spell out with a hamstring injury, but Thursday's game will come too soon for the midfielder. However, Manuel Ugarte will be included in Amorim's matchday squad after missing the last two games with a knock, while Patrick Dorgu is serving a domestic ban but is available for Europa League duty.
The absence of Yoro and Maguire could see Noussair Mazraoui start in central defence - as he did in last week's first-leg - next to Matthijs de Ligt and Victor Lindelof, while Amorim will weigh up whether to recall out-of-form striker Rasmus Hojlund or stick with Christian Eriksen and Alejandro Garnacho in behind Zirkzee.
As for Real Sociedad, Jon Pacheco (muscle) remains sidelined, while Luka Sucic (knee) and Jon Aramburu (foot) were unable to participate in training earlier this week and have emerged as major doubts for the trip to Old Trafford.
However, Alvaro Odriozola and Arsen Zakharyan have both overcome fitness issues and could be in contention to feature in some capacity on Thursday, while star midfielder Martin Zubimendi is set to start after recovering from an illness that forced him to miss the first leg.
After beginning as substitutes against Sevilla, Oyarzabal, Takefusa Kubo and Ander Barrenetxea are all expected to be recalled in attack at the expense of Orri Oskarsson, Sheraldo Becker and ex-Man City man Sergio Gomez.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; De Ligt, Lindelof, Mazraoui; Dalot, Fernandes, Casemiro, Dorgu; Garnacho, Hojlund, Zirkzee
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Elustondo, Zubeldia, Aguerd, Munoz; Turrientes, Zubimendi, Mendez; Kubo, Oyarzabal, Barrenetxea
We say: Manchester United 1-1 Real Sociedad (Man Utd to win 2-1 after extra time and 3-2 on aggregate)
There have only been nine goals scored across seven previous meetings between Man United and Real Sociedad, including four netted in the same game by the Red Devils in a 4-0 win in February 2021.
Another closely-fought contest between two teams struggling on the domestic front could therefore be on the cards, one that may be forced into extra time, but we are backing the hosts to find a way to come out on top at Old Trafford and prevail on aggregate to set up a quarter-final tie with either Lyon or FCSB.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
