It might be fate or luck, but Manchester United couldn’t have had a more curious opponent in Fenerbahce. Jose Mourinho, one of The Red Devils’ former managers, is currently in charge of the Turkish giants. His appointment in Turkey has similar circumstances to the one in England, but Fenerbahce is far from the top. One thing is certain – Jose Mourinho will likely look to add to the pressure his colleague Erik ten Haag is currently facing.
Fenerbahce Team News
Mourinho’s appointment at Fenerbahce had a clear goal – end the team’s decade-long title drought. Yet his work in Turkey has been scrutinised quite early as his side is 8 points behind Galatasaray. ”Unhappy and hopeless” are the words club legend Volkan Demirel used to describe Mourinho’s Fenerbahce. Recent results reflect that, as we can see Fenerbahce suffered a devastating 1-3 loss to arch-rivals Galatasaray and most recently reached an underwhelming 2-2 draw with Samsunspor. In the Europa League, the team won its opening match against Royale Union SG with 2-1 and then went on to draw away to Twente. Fenerbahce has not conceded a goal in just one of their last 5 competitive fixtures and has also scored in all of them.
Manchester United Team News
Speaking of pressure and underwhelming results, Erik ten Haag and his Manchester United side have become synonymous with these terms. Albeit, the Dutchman alleviated some of the pressure upon him after the comeback to Brentford, there is still a lot to be desired. Manchester United’s Europa League campaign has also started underwhelmingly, with 2 draws. Their most recent fixture in the competition was an away draw to Porto in which a late equalizer by Harry Maguire saved The Red Devils. Both of the team’s Europa League matches have produced goals by Manchester United but have also seen them concede. While this competition might be lower on Erik ten Haag and United’s priorities it could be one of the more realistic chances for a trophy this season.
Head-to-Head-Games
Fenerbahce and Manchester United last met each other in 2016 during that season’s Champions League group stage. Fenerbahce won the game in Turkey with 2-1 while United the one in England with 4-1. A similar pattern can be seen earlier as well but in 2004’s Champions League. If we combine these 4 games we can say that all of the last 4 meetings between these two have produced over 2.5 goals per game, with both teams scoring and winning when being the host.
Fenerbahce – Manchester United Betting Prediction
The situation with both teams is oddly similar, as both managers are under pressure to deliver results. Yes, Erik ten Haag’s situation is much more troublesome than Jose Mourinho’s but there are serious cracks in the performance of the latter as well. Fenerbahce’s recent fixtures suggest that they don’t have any real issues scoring goals, but are often held back by shoddy defending. United’s overall performance has been poor, but they have managed to score and concede in both of their previous two Europa League games. So my pick here would be for a game with over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring.
Betting Tip: Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams To Score: Yes
Bookmaker: Sportsbet.io
Odds: 1.95
Sportsbet.io
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