After crashing out of the FA Cup against Chelsea earlier this week and stuck in 6th place in the Premier League, Jose Mourinho has targeted the Europa League as his main focus this season.
The Portuguese has come under heavy fire for the lack of results this season given the squad he has put together despite winning a trophy in his debut season.
United might have won the League Cup but besides that their inability to win games has meant they have sat in 6th place in the Premier League for five months even with them being undefeated since then.
As a result, Mourinho has no choice but to look at winning the Europa League to secure Champions League qualification for next year and try salvage his first season at the club.
The fortress of Old Trafford?
Man United’s home form lately in the Premier League has been disappointing with their last league victory at Old Trafford coming in December.
In the Europa League however it has been quite the opposite as the Red Devils have scored eleven goals in the last three home games only conceding one.
United came back to England with a draw last week however managed to score a vital away goal and so a clean sheet tonight will guarantee their progression to the quarter finals.
It is hard to judge Rostov’s ability to travel as they were playing in the Champions League before being knocked down into Europa.
Their group consisted of Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and PSV Eindhoven.
The Russians will arrive at Old Trafford looking to hit the ground running and an early goal will be vital for the hosts in trying to seal off this tricky tie.
Team News:
In the United camp, the manager has ruled out Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial but Eric Bailly is available for selection after serving his ban.
Zlatan Ibrahimović is also available as his ban is only domestic whilst Ander Herrera is also eligible despite his red card on Monday against Chelsea.
Last week’s goal scorer Henrikh Mkhitaryan is also available and should start whilst a lot of attention will once again be on Paul Pogba.
For Rostov, Aleksandr Gatskan and Timofei Kalachev are both serving bans after picking up yellow cards last week .
Soslan Dzhanaev could possibly could return in goal.
Match details
Stadium: Old Trafford
Time: 20:05 GMT
First Leg Score: 1-1 Draw