Prediction & odds for the game: Manchester United (19/20) v Real Sociedad (13/5) – ST is backing the home win

When: Thursday, 25th February @ 8pm K.O

Where: Old Trafford

Manchester United come into their second leg UEFA Europa League tie against Real Sociedad as big favourites following a 4-0 first leg success.

Manchester United

Manchester United may be slipping further and further behind Manchester City in the Premier League title race, but we’re not so sure that’s the only indication as to whether or not they’re going to have a successful season. They’re in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, they look destined to finish in the top four and the Europa League is truly there for the taking. Given all of that, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must be feeling pretty good about himself right now.

The 9-0 win over Southampton at the start of the month really did set the tone for a chaotic February at Old Trafford. United proceeded to draw 3-3 with Everton and beat West Ham, only to be held 1-1 by West Brom in the league. Thankfully for them they did get back on track with a dominant win over Real Sociedad before beating Newcastle 3-1 to keep up the pressure on City.

Real Sociedad

The main focus right now for Real Sociedad seems to be their venture towards the top four in La Liga, and given how unpredictable that league has been this season, we don’t think there’s a whole lot wrong with such an approach. They’ll definitely continue to put up a bit of a fight against United but we get the feeling they aren’t going to be all too devastated to get the Europa League off of their schedule for the season.

Between losing to Real Betis in the Copa del Rey and beating battered by Manchester United in the first leg of this tie, cup competitions haven’t been good to Sociedad as of late. La Liga, howeve,r has been a bit more positive, as they’ve beaten Cadiz, Getafe and Alaves to go alongside their draw wih Villarreal.

Conclusion

Unless Real Sociedad score a few early goals then this tie is essentially done as a contest, and we can’t imagine they’re going to pull it off given what we saw in the first leg. Manchester United just seem to be head and shoulders above them in terms of quality, to the point where we actually think they’ll win the second leg too. They aren’t going to blow them out of the water, but they’re definitely going to make their mark on the Spaniards.

Our official scoreline prediction is going to be 1-0 United, ensuring we stick to the under 2.5 goals market.

Verdict: Back the home win at odds of 19/20 and the under 2.5 goals scored at odds of 6/5 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on Manchester United vs Real Sociedad then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures on the soccer predictions page as this season’s Europa League drama returns.