Manchester United head to the Spanish capital with a huge task ahead as they take on Atletico Madrid in their second Champions League group game. With United adding even more pressure onto themselves after failing to hold onto victory over 10-man Tottenham on Saturday evening, they head into European competition out of form, out of confidence and lacking belief both inside and outside of the club.

In our preview of the game we are going to take a look at the team news coming into the game including our predicted XI for this one, we will have a look at some of the key battles and players to watch and then of course we will make a prediction for how this one could play out.

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Team News

With the existing injuries around the camp, Carrick has explained in the build-up to this game that both Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo are expected to miss out on the clash, adding a huge pressure onto the defence with already Mazraoui and Dorgu out with injuries. As a result, it’s expected that Dalot will take the left-back spot, with Yoro being trusted again on the right side of the defence as he has done a few times in pre-season and even starting against Tottenham in this place. Between these, it’s likely to be the Martinez-Maguire pairing who have both had an underwhelming start to the season but will be required to keep out the likes of Alvarez and co.

In the midfield, with Mainoo missing, I’m predicting we will see a full start for both Baleba and Santos. While Tielemans is the more obvious selection, I was really concerned by his performance against Tottenham, and I think keeping him on the bench to start is the smart move, as Santos and Baleba can offer more energy and remove the issue of running that United have lacked in several games this season. I think Tielemans can be called upon to see out the game but it makes sense to start with clearly fresher legs.

Finally, the forward line almost picks itself with the injury of Sesko, but I’ve also put Amad on the bench as I think he needs to be managed with minutes following his injury layoff and I think Carrick will be keen to use him against Leeds and so we will once again see the Rashford-Cunha-Mbeumo forward line trying to break down Atletico’s defence.

Predicted XI: Lammens, Dalot, Martinez, Maguire, Yoro, Baleba, Santos, Rashford, Fernandes, Mbeumo, Rashford

Key Battles

There’s mini battles across the pitch in this big European clash, as the defence of Yoro-Maguire-Martinez-Dalot will have to contend with the huge threat of Julian Alvarez, Jonathan David and Kang-In Lee, and given Atletico’s 4 game winning run leading into this game, they will be full of confidence in their attack.

I’m a little concerned about a match-up between Yoro and Ademola Lookman if they both feature as expected, as Yoro filling in a right-back is still at the experimental phase, and someone like Lookman can really exploit any uncertainty in the youngsters positioning and composure, which could result in Maguire also getting dragged out of position to help in covering.

In an attacking sense, Atletico Madrid have conceded just 3 times in 4 home games this season, meaning United will need to be accurate and precise in their moments of attack. It’s a battle between a team in United suited to counter attacking against a more defensive minded Atletico side and so chances could be limited, and United will need to be much more cohesive in the final third where they’ve lacked ideas in the start to this season in the absence of Benjamin Sesko.

Prediction

It’s very hard to imagine United coming into the Metropolitano and dominating the game, and Simeone is a coach who thrives in big European nights, leading to what will probably be a close encounter defined by individual moments. I think if Fernandes can show up and perform at the level we know he is capable, United will at least score, but I really doubt their ability to keep teams out in defence so I’m going for a score-draw prediction.

Atletico Madrid 1-1 Manchester United

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