Manchester United kick-start their 2024-25 Europa League campaign with an encounter against Eredivisie outfit FC Twente at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
This contest represents the first-ever meeting between the two teams; the Red Devils have lost just one of their previous nine home encounters with Dutch opposition.
Despite slumping to an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League last season, Man United are competing in the Europa League for the seventh time since it was rebranded in 2009 after winning the FA Cup final against rival Manchester City in May.
The Red Devils have since experienced a mixed start to the new campaign, winning three, losing three and drawing one of their seven matches across all competitions, following up back-to-back wins over Southampton (3-0) and Barnsley (7-0) with a goalless stalemate at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
Erik ten Hag has claimed that his United side ‘ate Palace alive’ in the first half at Selhurst Park, but they ultimately lacked a cutting edge in the final third and were forced to settle for just a point, leaving them 11th in the top-flight standings after five games and three points behind the top four.
The Dutchman is now preparing for a Europa League opener against his beloved Twente, who he grew up supporting and also represented on three occasions in his playing career between 1989 and 2002. Man United will follow up Wednesday’s contest with seven more Europa League fixtures in the newly-expanded 36-team competition against Porto, Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce, PAOK, Bodo/Glimt, Viktoria Plzen, Rangers and FCSB.
The Red Devils, who have lost just one of their last 24 home matches in the Europa League, will fancy their chances of success on matchday one against Twente and are among the bookmakers’ favourites go all the way and win this year’s competition for the second time in their history since their triumph in 2016-17.