Omonia vs Man Utd LIVE: Latest Europa League updates

Neil Lennon takes charge of Omonia tonight.

The Northern Irishman played against Manchester United 12 times in his career with three wins, three draws and six defeats against the Red Devils. The former Leicester City and Celtic midfielder scored against them when claiming a late consolation for the Foxes in a 3-1 loss at Old Trafford in November 1996.

“We are all very excited about playing Manchester United for a number of reasons,” he said, “Obviously because they are one of the biggest clubs in the world.

“It will be a great experience for my players and some of them are Manchester United supporters!”

Anthony Martial returned from injury with a brace in the Manchester derby by could do nothing to influence the result as City romped in 6-3 winners.

Still he performance showed a hunger for goals that was evident during pre-season and the Frenchman’s availability will be a real boost to the team.

Cristiano Ronaldo will start in centre-forward role after being an unused substitute at the weekend. He scored in the previous Europa League match at Sheriff Tiraspol and will be eager to stake a claim for more starting berths going forward.

Manchester United winger Antony is prepared for tonight’s game.

There was a bit of a hoo-ha earlier this week about some comments made by Erik ten Hag about why he didn’t play Cristiano Ronaldo against Manchester City.

Ten Hag said he kept Ronaldo on the bench ‘out of respect for his career’ when United were 4-0 down at half-time which led to inevitable questions about how Ronaldo feels at Old Trafford.

“I never talk about what I talk [to the players about]. My conversations with players are between us. That’s quite clear.” said the United boss when pressed about Ronaldo, “When you are here and when you are happy, and when you are satisfied being on the bench, this is not the club where you have to be.

“So, especially Cristiano is a really competitive, as we all know, he is not happy, of course, when he is not playing. But, I already said, and I have to repeat, maybe you didn’t hear, he is training well, he has a good mood, he is motivated and he gives his best, and that is what we expect.”

Ronaldo starts for United against Omonia tonight.

Omonoia are facing English opposition for a fifth time in Uefa competition. Their first such encounter came against Arsenal in the 1994/95 Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup, with the Cypriot outfit beaten 6-1 on aggregate by the Gunners.

Will they do better against Manchester United this evening?

Omonia forward Loizos Loizou has backed boss Neil Lennon to give the Cypriot side the edge in Thursday’s Europa League tie against Manchester United.

The 19-year-old reckons Lennon’s experience will prove crucial in the clash with Erik ten Hag’s side, when Omonia will be looking for their first win in Group E having lost their opening two games to Sheriff and Real Sociedad.

“Yes, he can make it (the difference),” the Cyprus international told the PA news agency. “He always tells us we are not scared of anyone – but we still have to be at our best levels.”

Manchester United boss, Erik ten Hag, spoke about what he is expecting to face in tonight’s Europa League tie with Omonia and how he wants his team to play.

“We played a good opponent, they gave us some lessons but we have to face that we didn’t play well on Sunday.” he said reflecting on the loss to Manchester City in the Premier League. “We did that, we took that and then we take the lessons and then we have to do better in the future.

“In Europe, it’s always a different approach, but it’s also always difficult. I played before there, in the stadium against an opponent so the ambience, we have to be ready for that.

“We have to be ready for a team that is well motivated. They play on the front foot. For them, it is the game of their life, so we have to be ready to face that and to play our game and that is one of the lessons from Sunday.”

Erik ten Hag makes two changes to the side that won 2-0 against Sheriff last time out in the Europa League.

Casemiro comes in for just his second Manchester United start after joining from Real Madrid taking Scott McTominay’s role as one of the two holding midfielders alongide Christian Eriksen, whilst at the back, Victor Lindelöf replaces the injured Raphael Varane.

Cristiano Ronaldo starts up front after sitting out the entire Manchester derby in the Premier League last Sunday.

Omonia XI: Fabiano; Matthews, Miletic, Yuste, Long, Lecjaks; Diskerud, Charalampos, Barker; Bruno, Ansarifard

Manchester United XI: De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Martinez, Malacia; Casemiro, Eriksen; Antony, Fernandes, Sancho; Ronaldo

Having played their first ever game in Moldova last time out, Manchester United are set for another first as they travel to Cyprus to take Omonoia for the first time in a competitive match.

Omonoia are coached by one-time Manchester City man Neil Lennon, who faced United many times with Celtic and Leicester. Will he be able to lead the hosts to a victory against his old rivals?