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Manchester United sit at the top of their Group H table with wins over Galatasaray and Cluj. They will be taking on Sporting Braga tomorrow, who are currently 3rd in the table with 1 win and 1 loss. They are 3rd only on goal difference as CFR Cluj have a slightly superior goal difference.
Manchester United will be playing host to Sporting Braga tomorrow night for their Champions League group match. The Red Devils would be in high spirits with an excellent performance against Stoke last Saturday. Having gone behind courtesy to a Wayne Rooney header early on during the match, they did very well to reach the half time with a goal ahead. Although Stoke pulled one back after halftime and just when it seemed that the match was heading to an exciting finish, the Red Devils scored a fourth and from there on it was inevitable that the Devils would end the match with all 3 points. The partnership between Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney seems to be coming around. During the match we could see Rooney and RVP constantly shifting, with RVP playing almost as a left midfield at times. If this partnership goes on in the same manner throughout the season, a lot of defenders are going to have a tough time keeping these duo quite. Apart from them the 3rd striker whether Welbeck or Hernandez is not going to help the opposition’s cause.
Braga are undefeated in their past five matches against an English opposition.
Kagawa, Fletcher and Cleverly were all rested for the Saturday’s game, which might mean that they all would be in the starting XI tomorrow. Ashley Young would also be fighting for a spot tomorrow. Rooney and Van Persie might not feature together as one of them might be rested for the upcoming match against Chelsea. This means that Welbeck or Hernandez might be starting tomorrow.
Braga’s probable starting lineup for tomorrow:
Beto (GK), Salino, Douglao, Vinicius, Ismaily, Viana, Custodia, Alan, Mossorro, Micael, Eder.
United have not lost to a Portuguese team at home so far, although it was Benfica who held them to a 0-0 last year, which sent United out of the competition. Manchester United would be the favorites to win tomorrow, but the disaster of last year’s Champions league would still be fresh in the mind of the Manager as well as the players.
