Oh how the mighty have fallen. Manchester United, who were once such regulars in the latter stages of the Champions League they could have considered building a Eurotunnel from their city, now have to make do with the Europa League. But wait. This tournament is suddenly vital to Jose Mourinho.
If United win this thing they will be back where they believe they belong. And they can afford to finish outside of the qualification places in the Premier League, an eventuality that is not unlikely.
So standing in their way are St Etienne (weren’t they a 90s pop band?). It should be straightforward for United if the layers are to be believed. They rate a 1.33 chance with William Hill and Betway. The draw is 5.5 (found at great ´price in most green listed bookmakers) and St Etienne are 13 (Marathon).
Obviously we reckon United are not going to get beat. The stat that confirms that is the fact they’ve not lost at home since September 10. But could the French outfit stop them winning? Are they any good?
They are fifth in Ligue One. This sounds reasonably impressive but this section is not as competitive as the Premier League. Monaco and PSG dominate and the rest scrap among themselves so a fifth place here could be considered lower mid-table in England. In reality, St Etienne are probably Championship level.
What they are good at is defending. Just 19 goals have been shipped in 25 league games. But they are shot-shy. They have only 12 goals on their travels, which is the lowest in the top eight. Given they are going to have to score to get a draw here, we think we can safely assume that the price is not value.
United have won 13 of 26 against French outfits and suffering only two losses. The most recent of those fixtures came in 2011 as United beat Olympique Marseille 2-1 at Old Trafford to reach the Champions League last eight.
They should be one player short of full-strength with Phil Jones a doubt. Wayne Rooney is expected to be fit after recovering from illness.
The price we do like, therefore, are the Man United-Man United double result at 2 with Coral and Paddy Power and 6.5 and 9 that United win 2-0 and 3-0 on the correct score betting.
But our favourite wager is Zlatan-based. During his time in France with Paris Saint-Germain, Ibrahimovic scored 14 goals in 13 matches against Saint-Etienne in all competitions. He is 1.9 with Sports Winner to score at any time and we’ll snaffle that. He is 3.8 (BetVictor) to score the first goal.
It is also worth noting that the Pogba brothers, Paul and Florentin face each other. Paul is 3.75 (Betfred, Betway) to score against the defence marshalled by his brother.
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