Saint-Étienne v Manchester United Betting Tips: Visitors to finish the job

Saint-Etienne have it all to do in this second leg of their Europa League tie against Manchester United with the English side holding a 3-0 lead over their French opponents going into this match.

Saint-Etienne will feel aggrieved that they lost by such a large score-line at Old Trafford given the nature of the goals but the point is that they were not good enough on the day. The French side could not recover in time for their Ligue 1 match at the weekend which saw them lose against Montpellier despite going 1-0 up in the first quarter of an hour.

Although they conceded three goals against United, Christophe Galtier’s side have been excellent at the back in the French league this season and have the third-best defensive record with just 21 goals conceded in 26 matches. Unfortunately though, they do not have much going the other way with just 31 goals scored.

The Saints have a very decent home record and have accumulated an average of two points per game at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in the league so far this campaign, winning their last three. Furthermore, Saint-Etienne have not lost a home match in the Europa League since August 2015 – 10 matches unbeaten.

Manchester United showed their professionalism on Sunday evening as they managed to fight off a strong challenge from Championship side Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup to get through to the quarter finals. This extended United’s winning run to four in all competitions whilst they have also lost just once in all competitions since 3rd November 2016.

Jose Mourinho has got his side looking very solid at the back and, before they conceded against Blackburn on Sunday, United had kept five consecutive clean sheets. They have the third-best defensive record in the Premier League and have kept clean sheets in 40% of their league matches. In the striking department, with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the team, they will always have a chance of scoring goals.

The Red Devils have the third-best away record in the Premier League with an average of two points per game whilst they have also won their last two matches on the road in all competitions.

Looking at the weakened XI Mourinho picked against Blackburn, I imagine he will go full-strength against Saint-Etienne and look to confirm passage to the next round. They may have a three-goal margin but Mourinho is not naive enough to think this is a done deal.

A strong United side, with their nous, should win this match relatively comfortably and I think 11/10 is a very good price for punters – one that should be snapped up.

See more Europa League tips here.