Manchester United vs FC Zorya Luhansk. UEFA Europa League Group A.
Old TraffordAttendance58,179.
Thursday 29 September 2016 21:55, UK
Jose Mourinho is unsure whether Wayne Rooney will start for Manchester United at home to Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League on Thursday (kick-off 8.05pm) after suffering a back injury.
Rooney missed United training on Tuesday and could be named among the substitutes again after being dropped for the win over Leicester.
United will be looking to bounce back from their opening group game defeat by Feyenoord earlier this month, where one goal was enough to give the Dutch side victory.
They have never lost the opening two group games of a European campaign, but after three straight defeats in all competitions, Mourinho's side got back to winning ways on Saturday, seeing off Leicester 4-1.
"The Ukrainian team, I don't have a vision of them or their qualities," admitted the United manager following the draw for the group stages, but Zorya managed a 1-1 draw with Fenerbahce in their opening game.
Team news
Mourinho said of Rooney's fitness: "I haven't decided yet if I start with him. He didn't train yesterday [Tuesday], he did just a little bit of the session on Monday.
"He had a back problem so today [Wednesday] was the first time that he had a training session with the other players and today is the training session where the intensity and the complexity is obviously reduced because we have a game tomorrow."
Mourinho also confirmed in his press conference on Wednesday that striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be starting the clash at Old Trafford.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who trained with his team-mates at Carrington, will not feature against the Ukrainian side, while Luke Shaw will also be out with an illness.
Anthony Martial is available for selection again after his recent injury.
Opta stats
Zorya Luhansk will be the third Ukrainian side that Manchester United have met in Europe (after Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk), winning four of the six meetings with such sides (W4 D2 L0).
Zorya have scored in 10 of their past 11 European games (including qualifiers), netting 20 goals (1.8 goals per game).
United are unbeaten in 11 European games at Old Trafford (including qualifiers), winning eight and drawing three.
The Red Devils have lost six of their last eight Europa League games (W1 D1 L6), conceding in each game.
Including qualifiers, Zorya Luhansk are without a win in three European games (D1 L2), their longest run without a win in European competition.
United have not kept a clean sheet in Europe since a 0-0 draw with PSV in November 2015 (six games without), their longest run since October 2013 (nine games without a clean sheet).
Mourinho last lost two consecutive European group games in December 2008 with Inter Milan although they still qualified from the group as runners-up.
Betting
Zorya are up against odds of 14/1 with Sky Bet to cause an upset at Old Trafford, with Manchester United just 2/11 for the victory.
United are currently rated 13/2 favourites to win the competition, while their visitors are 125/1 outsiders and 20/1 just to win Group A. The bookies rate Marcus Rashford as the joint favourite in the first goalscorer betting alongside Ibrahimovic at 9/4 apiece, while Rooney is 7/2 to prove his worth by breaking the deadlock.
