The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsSome teams spend decades away from the competition, for Manchester United missing just one season was unacceptable. This Wednesday Old Trafford welcomes back European nights under the lights.
Nothing but a win will be acceptable for United. Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United team will want to return to winning ways in Europe and have the perfect platform in which to do that in front of the Old Trafford crowd. A comfortable home win at the weekend, sees them top their league domestically but defeat in Eindhoven two weeks ago leaves United needing a victory. Losing again may make qualification to the knockout stages extremely difficult. United will hope history repeats itself, having beaten Wolfsburg in their only other two meetings, in the 2009 UEFA Champions’ League group stages.
United will be missing some key contributors from the first team with four absentees from training. Michael Carrick, Marcos Rojo, Ander Herrera and Antonio Valencia all did not train. It is expected Rojo and Carrick will miss the match whilst Herrera and Valencia remain doubtful. The loss of Carrick’s experience will be a major blow for United, but Bastian Schweinsteiger who is well equipped to play German teams will be more than a sufficient cover.
Wolfsburg enter the game with slightly less pressure than the home side following a tightly contested 1-0 victory against CSKA Moscow in their first game. Although, domestically finding themselves on the end of a freak five goal salvo from Lewandowski in nine minutes and a stuttering draw with Hannover 96. Dieter Hecking will hope his side’s recent league form won’t impact their European performances. Having lost Kevin De Bruyne in a much publicised transfer to Manchester City over the summer, Wolfsburg have coped relatively well, sitting in 4th place and losing only once. However the history omens don’t bode well for Wolfsburg, having lost on all three occasions on English soil. Nevertheless, they will look to solidify their clasp on top spot in the group with a good result on Wednesday.
Wolfsburg enter the game with several absentees; Vierinha, Felipe and Robin Knoche whilst crucially the influential holding midfielder Luiz Gustavo is doubtful.
Key players
- Manchester United- Bastian Schweinsteiger experience and knowledge of the Bundesliga will be invaluable for his team in this game
- Wolfsburg- Julian Draxler- An upcoming fearless German talent and what better stage than Old Trafford to raise your profile even further?
Key stats
- United Have never lost their first two games of a Champions League campaign.
- United have won 10 of their last 14 Champions League games against German opposition
- Wolfsburg have lost all three of their trips to England in Europe.
- No German team has kept a clean sheet in their last 16 Champions League games against Manchester United.
Prediction
Manchester United 2-1 Wolfsburg
