James Eastham looks at the bets and odds ahead of an intriguing encounter at Old Trafford on Wednesday night…
“Six of Young Boys’ 11 matches Champions League games this season have featured Over 3.5 Goals. The average goals-per-game count across those 11 fixtures was 3.45.”
Best Bet: Back Man Utd vs Young Boys Over 3.0 Goals @ 2.001/1
Man Utd vs Young Boys
Wed, 20:00 GMT
Live on BT Sport 2 and BT Sport Ultimate
United have already qualified
Manchester United are already through as group winners and under normal circumstances that would make this a dead rubber of a match with few points of interest for the Red Devils.
With Ralf Rangnick having taken over as caretaker manager at Old Trafford last week, however, these are not normal circumstances.
The highly-regarded German coaching maestro’s interim reign got off to a winning start when his side ran out 1-0 winners at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon. A second-half Fred winner earned United all three points.
Even though top spot in Champions League Group F is assured, United players will want to impress the new manager and Rangnick will see this fixture as a good opportunity to further impose his ideas.
There’s a chance Rangnick will rotate but it’s equally likely he’ll name a strong side as he looks to build on that maiden win last weekend and put some foundations in place.
Young Boys have to play to win
United cannot off to switch off completely as visitors Young Boys have targets of their own.
The Swiss champions are already out of the running for a Champions League knockout place but will finish third and qualify for the next phase of the Europa League if they win here and Atalanta lose vs Villarreal in the group’s other game.
The visitors will go all-out for a win knowing that an unlikely victory would make Wednesday evening one of the club’s greatest recent European nights.
On their day Young Boys are a force to be reckoned with as they showed when they ran out 2-1 winners in the first meeting between these two sides in Bern in September.
On that occasion David Wagner’s hosts came from 1-0 down to claim a 2-1 victory. Cristiano Ronaldo put United ahead before winger Moumi Ngamaleu equalised and striker Jordan Pefok netted an injury-time winner in front of a 31,120-strong crowd.
Swiss visitors out of form
Yet that was a rare highlight in a season that has proved a massive disappointment domestically and continentally for ex-Huddersfield Town boss Wagner and his players so far.
Young Boys were crowned Super League champions by an incredible 31-point margin over nearest challengers Basel last season.
Yet they are off the pace this season. They currently sit nine points behind leaders Zurich (Young Boys have just one game in hand) and have lost four of 15 league fixtures (W7-D4-L4) so far, twice as many as they did in the whole of last season.
Young Boys; latest defeat – 2-1 at home to Servette last Sunday afternoon – summed up the failings that have plagued the side’s campaign so far.
Their pressing was ineffective, they failed to control the midfield, and they made uncharacteristic mistakes throughout the game.
Injuries haven’t helped. Star striker Jean-Pierre Nsame – scorer of 51 league goals in 62 appearances over the past two seasons – has missed the whole of 2021-22 so far with an Achilles injury.
Excellent winger Christian Fassnacht – scorer of seven goals in 779 league minutes on the pitch this season – is out through injury until next year, while highly experienced central defender Fabian Lustenberger has just returned after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
High goals the smart selection
Manchester United are 1.434/9 to win, with Young Boys 8.27/1 and The Draw 5.39/2.
Young Boys’ poor form and depleted squad mean they cannot be supported with any confidence. But the fact they need to win to stand any chance of claiming a Europa League place means a bold approach from the visitors is likely.
With the visitors set to take risks and United’s players keen to impress their new boss, we expect an open game.
The stats on Young Boys in particular also point towards an open encounter.
Both teams have scored nine of Young Boys’ 11 Champions League games this season (qualifiers and group games combined). Six of those 11 matches featured Over 3.5 Goals. The average goals-per-game count across those 11 fixtures was 3.45.
Over 3.0 in the Goal Lines market at 2.01/1 and ‘Yes’ in the Both teams to Score? market at 1.8810/11 are both worth considering.
Source: Betfair Champions League
