MATCH PREVIEW : MANCHESTER UNITED VS VILLARREAL 27/5/2021 (EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL)

In about 12 hours from this exact moment, Manchester United's season would culminate with the Europa League final in Gdansk. After tasting successive disappointments in four semi-finals, this is Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's and his men's first chance at silverware in nearly three years, and that too European silverware. Question marks have been raised at Ole's management acumen, criticisms have been thrown towards various players in the squad and a cloud of doubt has forever loomed over the progress of United as a club ever since Ole has taken over. Tomorrow can be vindication, once and for all.

There are roadblocks though, many of them. Firstly the goalkeeper dilemma, with both De Gea and Henderson having strong claims for the #1 spot, I would hate to be in Ole's position of picking one over the other. Then the question of who is going to partner Lindelof in the CB position - Bailly or Tuanzebe? And finally, the probability of a completely new pivot consisting of Matic and Pogba due to the lack of pressing by Villarreal. There are alot of unanswered questions and Ole has to get his permutations right in a hurry. And by right I mean spot on.

Coming onto Villarreal, they are managed by Mr. Europa League himself, Unai Emery. Having won the Europa League a record three times, he knows this competition like the back of his hand. Furthermore, no injuries plague Villarreal with even their injured forward Chukuweze making a surprise comeback. Add to this Villarreal's hunger for winning their first trophy ever, and you can guarantee that their players are not going to leave even an inch of grass fresh by the time the final whistle blows. Incentive, experience and assets, all are in Villarreal's hands. It's upto them how they play their hand of cards now.

An absolutely massive 90 minutes lie ahead of us, with both clubs having huge reasons to dig deeper than ever before in order to graft out a win. It is extremely hard to predict the lineups as both managers would be hiding aces up their sleeves. It is even harder predicting a winner. Dynamic United against steady Villarreal, the margins are razor thin here. Every bounce of the ball counts as what lies at stake is the club's trophy count.

PREDICTED LINEUP:

MUN - De Gea, Wan Bissaka, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Shaw, Matic, Pogba, Fernandes, Rashford, Cavani, Greenwood

VIL - Asenjo, Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza, Trigueros, Capoue, Parejo, Chukuweze, Moreno, Alcacer

ARNAV'S PREDICTION: MANCHESTER UNITED 2:1 VILLARREAL