Winning the League Cup sparked euphoria at Old Trafford, but it was quickly extinguished by the historic debacle against Liverpool. Manchester United have never been more convincingly defeated in the biggest English derby, and Erik ten Hag and his players will have the opportunity to improve their impression as much as possible in the first match of the round of 16 of the Europa League with Betis, which will take place on Thursday at 11 PM EAT in England.It is certain that the fans will not welcome the players in a good mood after the disaster at Anfield. Every move will be closely watched, especially captain Bruno Fernandes’ who has been criticized for the way he behaved during the second half of Sunday’s clash. He waved his hands constantly, did not help in defense, he seemed uninterested in trying to raise the morale of the team by leading by example, which is always expected from the captain, so Gary Neville stated after the game that the Portuguese at one point even looked like he regretted he is not the one that the coach is taking out of play.Fernandes will have an opportunity to redeem himself in the upcoming match with Betis, although there is also an opinion that it would be better if ten Hag rested him, so that he would not give another weak performance due to the pressure. Maybe the Dutchman would do that – if he had someone to replace him.Erik ten Hag says Bruno Fernandes will remain Man United’s captain in the absence of Harry Maguire 💪 pic.twitter.com/ozHgkNeOgu— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 8, 2023 Bruno is, along with Marcus Rashford, the player with the most appearances for Manchester United this season. Out of a possible 42, they were in the team 40 times each. He was only taken out of the game once, and came off the bench four times, which suggests that he will be in the starting line-up against Betis as well.After the horror in Liverpool, Rashford “tweeted” that he would like the team to go out on the field again the very next day and make up for a dismal performance, that is, show that the convincing defeat was only the result of one bad day. Certainly, every Manchester United player who played the second half of the meeting with Liverpool three days ago thinks so, and it is very likely that it will be the same on Thursday. Not because ten Hag wants to give them a chance at redemption, but because there is no adequate replacement.Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek are injured for a long period of time, Anthony Martial has not fully recovered and is expected to return after the international break, Mason Greenwood is suspended, while among the players at his disposal, the Dutchman does not have many options that he could trust in such an important a match such as the round of 16 of the Europa League.A very important period coming up. 🙏How many wins will Man United pick up? #mufc pic.twitter.com/5N7wycG88M— Man United News (@ManUtdMEN) March 8, 2023 At least from what we’ve seen so far this season, ten Hag doesn’t like to rotate much. So far, 30 players have had the chance to play on the field, 17 of whom have appeared in at least half of the matches (21). Among them is Eriksen, with 31 games before he got injured. The six of them played about 90 percent of the games, while Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer only arrived in January, so they didn’t have a chance to play.Considering the awful performance against Liverpool and only one goal in 14 appearances since his arrival from Burnley, Weghorst will probably move to the bench for tomorrow’s match, and the same could happen to Antony. Jadon Sancho, who was spared the embarrassment at Anfield, and young Alejandro Garnacho, who played the last half hour instead of Weghorst, are expected to replace them.Fred could also be dropped out of the team, and McTominay, who replaced him in the last half hour at Anfield, or Sabitzer, who entered a little later instead of Casemiro, could be in the midfield alongside the Brazilian himself.Defensively, the options are Van Bissaka and Tyrel Malacia instead of Dalot and Shaw at full-back, and Harry Maguire instead of Varane or Lisandro Martinez at centre-back. Ten Hag could change the appearance of the back line quite a bit, but the big question is whether it would get the desired stability.##EDITORS_CHOICE##”I’m not Harry Potter. It’s a matter of self-confidence. Every player has to create and gain his own self-confidence, fight for himself and make an effort,” said ten Hag in one of his earlier public addresses.In the two transfer periods of the current season, Manchester United spent almost 250,000,000 euros. The impression is that a prolific striker and better defenders are still missing. In terms of efficiency in the Premier League, the Old Trafford club is currently sixth (41), and ninth (35) in terms of the number of goals conceded.UEFA EUROPA LEAGUERound of 16 – 1st legThursday20:45: (1.70) Union Berlin (3.60) St.Gilloise (5.40)20:45: (1.33) Leverkusen (5.70) Ferencvaros (10.0)20:45: (3.40) Sporting (3.45) Arsenal (2.25)20:45: (2.25) Roma (3.15) Sociedad (3.45)23:00: (1.80) Sevilla (3.70) Fenerbahce (5.00)23:00: (1.70) Juventus (3.70) Freiburg (5.90)23:00: (1.45) Man.Utd. (4.40) Betis (7.25)23:00: (3.10) Shakhtar (3.45) Feyenoord (2.40)***odds are subject to change***
