Manchester United have been besieged by problems this season
but the Champions League has been a saving grace for them and David Moyes’s
biggest stroke of luck has probably been a winnable last 16 draw against
Olympiakos, with the first leg in Greece tonight very winnable for the under
fire Premier League champions.
United’s best performances have all come in Europe, with a
comfortable enough topping of what was an admittedly fairly weak section with
Shaktar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, and Real Sociedad all playing a good deal
below what they are capable of when it came to Europe, but in Olympiakos they
face an opponents arguably even weaker than any of those three on paper and
they have been handed a golden chance for a quarter final spot based on some of
the other second seeds in Last 16 ties.
Of course, that is not to write off Michel’s side. Whatever
one might think of them they picked up 10 points from a group that had Benfica
in the section - they could well have won in Greece had it not been for a pitch
that was sub deluged before half time and gave PSG a mighty game in Paris, with
only Edison Cavani’s late goal robbing them of a point in Paris.
However, the sale of top goalscorer Konstantinos Mitroglou
to Fulham is a mighty blow for their chances and with second top scorer Javier
Saviola on the bench, one can’t help but think that an oft leaky defence has
been given a big chance despite the good form of Michael Olaitan – as new recruit
Marko Šćepović is cup tied for this particular encounter.
United’s away form in the group stage was no more than average
with draws at Sociedad and Shakthar but they won at home convincingly both times
and similar result may occur here.
Advice
1 pt Draw (23/10 Boylesports)
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