Viktoria Plzen vs Manchester United Prediction: Red Devils to claim first away win

Viktoria Plzen welcome Manchester United to Doosan Arena in the Europa League on Thursday (17:45, TNT Sports 2), with one place separating the two teams in the standings. They've both picked up nine points so far and both are unbeaten after five matches.

United head into this off the back of a disappointing 3-2 home defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, so Ruben Amorim will demand an instant response from his players here. Read on for my Viktoria Plzen vs Manchester United prediction, including the latest match odds and team news.

Viktoria Plzen vs Manchester United Odds

Viktoria Plzen are 9/2 to claim their second home victory in the Europa League, giving them an implied probability of 18.2%. Manchester United are valued at 4/7 to come away with the three points. The Red Devils are yet to win on the road in this competition, though.

The draw is on offer at 16/5 (23.8%), with both teams having drawn three games apiece in the league phase so far.

Both teams to score has landed in all but one of United's European clashes so far, and it is 4/6 to strike on Thursday. Over 2.5 goals has been a winning selection in four of the hosts' Europa League contests so far, and it is available at 4/7 for this one.

United forward Rasmus Hojlund has netted three goals in Europe so far, and he is 7/5 to score anytime on Thursday.

Football Odds

Team News

Viktoria Plzen are set to be without defender Svetozar Markovic, who was transported to hospital for medical tests after sustaining an injury in last weekend's win over Karvina, while Prince Kwabena Adu has been absent for the past five games due to problems with his visa.

Veteran wide man Jan Sykora is yet to feature for the hosts this season due to injury and he remains confined to the medical bay, along with Christophe Kabongo and Rafiu Durosinmi, who are also long-term absentees.

Cory Sene is unavailable for the hosts because he had not been named in Plzen's Europa League squad.

After scoring four goals in as many games across all competitions, in-form top scorer Pavel Sulc is set to once again operate in an advanced role in behind Erik Jirka and former Burnley, Derby County and Watford man Matej Vydra.

For Manchester United, Luke Shaw is out of action yet again following another muscle setback, and he is expected to be out until the new year. Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans have been suffering with fitness issues of late, and both will need to be assessed to see if they will be well enough to be involved on Thursday.

With a huge game in the Premier League against rivals Manchester City at the weekend, Amorim could opt to give a few key players some rest ahead of the weekend, so we could see Hojlund dropped for Joshua Zirkzee.

Defenders Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire and Tyrell Malacia could be promoted to the XI here, while we could see the likes of Casemiro, Mason Mount and Christian Eriksen returned to the middle of the park.

Alejandro Garnacho is another Red Devils attacker who could be preserved to face the Citizens on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium.

Man United and both teams to score @ 15/8

United have had to settle for draws on their last two European trips to Fenerbahce and Porto. They are tough places to go to and they did well to come away with two points from those clashes.

They will be sensing a good opportunity in Pilsen to pick up three points on the road, but they will be wary of the attacking threat the hosts pose, having mustered nine goals in the competition so far. That is just one less than the Red Devils, who should have enough firepower to outscore their Czech hosts.

United experienced a weird game against Forest and this fixture provides them a chance to get their heads straight ahead of derby day at the weekend. Even with rotation, there is still more than enough quality in their ranks to come away with the victory here.

If Zirkzee and Rashford are the ones to be given the nod in attack, they will have a good opportunity to boost their confidence if they can get on the scoresheet against Plzen.

I fancy United here but a part of me can also see the home team pulling off an upset, which wouldn't be the first time this season. They've already defeated Real Sociedad and Dynamo Kyiv, so United cannot afford to be complacent here.

However, I'm sticking with my first instinct and that is a United victory. Amorim will want to see a much better display from his players after what happened at the weekend and I can see them bringing the heat on Thursday.

I do think both teams will score, though, because the home team have been proficient in front of goal this season, with 31 scored in the Czech First League after 18 games. They have failed to score in just one of their five Europa League fixtures so far, so I think we will see them get in on the action here.

Bruno Fernandes anytime goalscorer @ 2/1

One man I'm expecting to keep his place in the United side for this game is Bruno Fernandes, and I feel like there could be value in him getting on the scoresheet here. He's yet to get off the mark in the Europa League but he struck against Forest with a deft effort from the edge of the box.

This will have given the Portugal international an individual confidence boost heading into Thursday, where he will likely be United's source of attacking inspiration yet again.

His goal tally for the campaign stands at five goals, with three coming in the Premier League and two coming in the EFL Cup. He has one goal involvement in Europe so far, providing an assist in the 2-2 draw with PAOK last month.

The 30-year-old will be hungry to add some goals to this competition, and I feel as though Plzen could be the game in which he gets up and running. I think 2/1 offers good value for him to score for the second successive game across all competitions.

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