Nottingham - Man Utd: Time to return to the top 3

The draw with Sevilla in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final could ruin Man Utd's whole season, when central defenders Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez are at risk of missing the season. But after Saturday 15/4, "Red Devils" received positive news when two top 4 competitors Newcastle and Tottenham both failed.

If they win against Nottingham, teachers and students Erik ten Hag will increase the gap from fifth place to six points, and still have a match to play. Man Utd will also finish third in place of Newcastle if they win at least one point at the City Ground, but the visitors want more. Because Man Utd have won all three games of Nottinham this season, scoring eight goals and not conceding.

Nottingham's form is also not high with a series of nine games without a win in the Premier League, making the team fall to 18th. But with just one point against Man Utd, the Premier League rookie will escape the red light group after round 31. So both teams have great motivation to play this match.

Nottingham has a home base, where they have only lost one and drawn six of the last 11 matches in the Premier League. There, they won Liverpool, held Chelsea and Man City. Therefore, Man Utd cannot be subjective, especially when they have just won one of the last five away matches in the tournament, including two consecutive defeats against Liverpool and Newcastle.

If this match takes place at Old Trafford, Man Utd fans can rest assured on three points. But at City Ground, there is no guarantee of victory for the "Reds". Away from home this season, they have dropped unexpected points against Brentford, Aston Villa or Crystal Palace. However, before the opponents racing to relegation, Man Utd did better with a victory over Southampton, Leicester, Everton, Wolves or Leeds.

The problem of the visitors also lies in the personnel, when they are not only absent from the central defender pair. Donny van de Beek and Alejandro Garnacho still have long-term injuries, while Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw leave the possibility of playing. In Ten Hag's four defenders, there can be no shortage of up to three people. Most likely, the pair of central defenders Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof will start, but the ability to deploy the ball of both is a concern. Nottingham can take advantage of this to play with high pressure, confusing the opponent and easy to lose the ball.

Man Utd's upline positions are less worrisome, although Rashford may be absent. Anthony Martial did well as a starter against Sevilla, providing an assist for Marcel Sabitzer to score the second. Sabitzer is also Ten Hag's new attack plan when he played for the attack and scored a double in the previous match. The Austrian midfielder, boosted by Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, is back, and Bruno Fernandes is deep in the ball.

Nottingham's personnel situation is even worse than Man Utd, when they welcome more Cheikhou Kouyate and Moussa Niakhate to the list of sick soldiers with Giulian Biancone, Renan Lodi, Omar Richards, Gustavo Scarpa, Chris Wood, Willy Boly and Dean Henderson . However, coach Steve Cooper welcomed defender Serge Aurier and midfielder Ryan Yates back.

At this moment, the most important task of Man Utd is to ensure the Champions League next season, by finishing in the top 4 of the English Premier League or winning the Europa League. The first option is more favorable and they will be close to the goal if they win three points against Nottingham.

Experts also think that Man Utd will do this. The British Evening Standard and Sportsmole both predicted the "Red Devils" to win 2-1, while Sportskeeda also said that the away team would win 3-1.

Nottingham: Navas; Williams, Worrall, Felipe, Toffolo; Freuler, Danilo, Mangala; Gibbs-White, Johnson; Dennis.

Man Utd: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Dalot; Fernandes, Casemiro, Eriksen; Antony, Martial, Sancho.