Ander Herrera could stake his claim for a regular place in Manchester United's first team against Zorya (Getty)
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Manchester United will hope to recover from their surprise defeat in their opening Europa League match when they take on Ukrainian minnows Zorya Luhansk, with Jose Mourinho’s side heading into the match at full steam after finding their stride last weekend.
Despite opening their account with a 1-0 loss at Feyenoord, United are still expected to ease into the last-32, and Zorya face the daunting prospect of taking on a United side that will be close to full strength.
The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford are expected to start, and captain Wayne Rooney could face the prospect of another match on the substitutes’ bench, having been dropped from the side by Mourinho for the 4-1 victory over Leicester last weekend.
United face a double-header with Turkish side Fenerbahce in their next two Europa League matches and it is crucial that they go into the two matches with points on the board, as another defeat would leave them facing the prospect of winning their remaining four matches to ensure they progress to the knockout stages.
Zorya can’t be taken lightly though. They upset the odds to clinch a 1-1 draw with Fenerbahce in their opening match, and are actually above United in the current Group A.
What time does it start?
Manchester United vs Zorya Lohansk kicks-off at 20:05 BST [21:05 CET] on Thursday 29 September.
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Who are Zorya Lohansk?
Zorya finished fourth in last season’s Ukrainian Premier League , and are competing in their first ever Europa League group stage after being eliminated in the play-offs for the past two years. Having taken a point from their visit of Fenerbahce to the Slavutych Arena, Zorya will hope to shock the European world by defeating United, although their head coach, Yuriy Vernydub, has admitted that the prospect of facing a team of United’s magnitude is “frightening”.
They currently sit second in the Ukrainian Premier League, and have never won the top flight since gaining promotion in 2008. However, they have shown a steady improvement year on year, and reached the Ukrainian Cup final last season for the first time in their history.
Player to watch...
Ander Herrera: The Spaniard impressed after being restored to the line-up to play alongside Paul Pogba in place of Marouane Fellaini, and he brought a balance to the side that they had previously been missing when both Fellaini and Rooney were included. Should Mourinho give him another run out, the former Athletic Bilbao midfielder can seize the chance to cement his place in Mourinho’s first team.
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Wayne Rooney: Providing the captain gets onto the pitch in the first place, it’s crucial that he puts in an impressive performance against a side that really should be brushed aside by United. Rooney has not enjoyed a strong start to the 2016/17 season, and if he continues to toil in Mourinho’s side, the Portuguese won’t stand by him for long.
Wayne Rooney came on in the 83rd minute during United's game against Leicester on Saturday (Getty)
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