Manchester United vs Real Sociedad prediction, odds and preview

On Thursday night at Old Trafford, Manchester United takes on Real Sociedad in Group E’s opening match after just ending Arsenal’s undefeated start to the season.

Over the weekend, the Red Devils defeated their rivals from the capital 3-1, while the visitors from Spain earned a point by drawing 1-1 with Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

Man United enters the first matchday of the Europa League having won four straight matches in the Premier League, with both Arsenal and Liverpool falling victim to their superiority at Old Trafford. Man United have now recovered from their appalling start to competitive proceedings under Erik ten Hag.

In each of their last three appearances in Europe’s second-tier competition, Man United has advanced as far as the semifinals; however, Villarreal’s skill from the penalty spot allowed them to defeat the Red Devils and win the title in 2021. Man United will now attempt to continue this perfect streak of making it out of the group stage in the Europa League.

The Theatre of Dreams crowd won’t be anticipating Omonia or Sheriff Tiraspol to cause their side much problems later on in Group E. Man United’s European trip last season similarly came to an abrupt end as they lost to Atletico Madrid in the last-16 of the Champions League.

Real Sociedad did not let Alvaro Morata’s early goal against Atletico Madrid dampen their spirits as they rallied to draw 1-1 with Diego Simeone’s team, continuing their trend of scoring one and no more than one goal in La Liga games this season.

Umar Sadiq, 25, scored goal after goal for Almeria in the second division last season, so replacing Newcastle United’s newcomer Alexander Isak with him paid off right away. He headed in the equalizer barely 10 minutes after coming off the bench.

Imanol Alguacil, who has already won twice this season both away from home, has accumulated seven points out of a possible twelve, which is not a terrible start to the campaign.

Sociedad will participate in the Europa League group stage for the third time in a row in the 2022–23 season. During the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, they successfully advanced to the knockout stages, but last year, RB Leipzig eliminated them at the last–32 stage.

Prior to that 5-4 overall loss to Die Roten Bullen, Alguacil’s team lost to Man United at the same stage of the 2020–21 competition when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer guided the Red Devils to a 4-0 victory at the Allianz Stadium and a goalless draw in the return leg at Old Trafford.