Manchester United confirm Ruud van Nistelrooy XI vs PAOK as Amad Diallo returns

Amad Diallo has returned to the Manchester United XI as Ruud van Nistelrooy prepares his squad to face PAOK in the Europa League.

Manchester United are on the hunt for their first Europa League win of the 2024/25 season as Ruud van Nistelrooy’s squad readies themselves to face PAOK on Thursday evening.

The campaign has been turbulent so far, with United held to draws in all three matches – a 1-1 with FC Twente, an action-packed 3-3 with FC Porto, and another 1-1 against Fenerbahce. They currently find themselves in 21st place, four points short of the top eight, where they need to be to secure automatic progression to the knockout rounds.

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While United have shown promise in attack with five goals, defensive slips have consistently cost them leads, sparking scrutiny over their defensive structure and resilience.

With five matches still ahead and their most challenging fixtures likely behind them, there’s still a strong opportunity for United to bounce back. If they can tighten up at the back and keep up the pressure in attack, a climb up the standings and a spot in the knockout stages are well within reach.

The line-ups for both teams are confirmed below. Amad Diallo returns to the XI for the first time since 3 October against Porto, while Marcus Rashford is dropped.

Manchester United

Starting XI: Onana, Dalot, Lindelöf, Evans, Mazraoui, Casemiro, Ugarte, Fernandes, Amad, Højlund, Garnacho.

Subs: Bayındır, Heaton, Amass, De Ligt, Martínez, Eriksen, Fitzgerland, Mount, Antony, Rashford, Wheatley, Zirkzee.

PAOK

Starting XI: Kotarski, Jonny, Kedziora, Colley, Baba, Schwab, Ozdoyev, Zivkovic, Camara, Taison, Tissoudali.

Subs: Balomenos, Monastirilis, Sastre, Michailidis, Thymianis, Bakayoro, Shola, Despodov, Brandon, Chalov.

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