Athletic Bilbao vs Manchester United Predictions

• Athletic Bilbao have won all six of their home games in this season’s Europa League
• Manchester United have failed to win any of their last seven games in 90 minutes
• Both teams have scored in just one of Athletic Bilbao’s last eight contests
• Inaki Williams has scored five goals in the Europa League this term

United put all eggs in Europa League basket

It all comes down to the Europa League for Manchester United in what has been an abject season but Ruben Amorim’s side could be put in their place by Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames on Thursday.

The Red Devils have not even been able to push for the top half in the Premier League this season, occupying 14th spot with four matches left to play.

It was always going to be a Herculean task for Amorim to turn things around at Old Trafford and he has struggled to improve the Red Devils since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon.

But one small glimmer of hope in an otherwise dreadful campaign has been the Europa League, in which United are yet to lose this season.

Valverde’s Athletic a tough nut to crack

Manchester United finished a respectable third in the league stage of the Europa League before taking down Real Sociedad and Lyon in their last two knockout ties.

The quarter-final triumph over Lyon was, however, anything but straightforward as United has to recover from 4-2 down in extra time to win 5-4 against their Ligue 1 opponents.

It was an exceptionally entertaining contest but it did not exactly cover United in glory given how they relinquished their initial 2-0 advantage in normal time and their poor defending could come back to haunt them in this encounter.

Under veteran boss Ernesto Valverde, Athletic Bilbao are a seriously tough nut to crack and they have won their six Europa League home games by an aggregate score of 14-2 this term.

Most recently they have taken down both Roma and Rangers on their own patch and they should have no issues beating United on Thursday.

The San Mames will of course host the Europa League final this season, giving Athletic extra incentive to progress from this tie.

Inaki Williams can make his mark in first leg

The Basque club are comfortably nestled inside La Liga’s top five – which will secure qualification for next season’s Champions League – so they can attack this tie and are a much stronger unit than Manchester United.

They have lost just five times in the Spanish top flight this season, while they can also boast the best defence in the division with just 26 goals conceded, fewer than the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

With that in mind, Athletic are worth a bet to win this match and a 2-0 home win offers value in the correct-score netting.

In brothers Inaki and Nico Williams, they also carry a serious attacking threat in wide areas and Inaki Williams is the pick to add to his tally of five Europa League goals in this contest given Nico’s recent injury scare.