Man United, Tottenham Eye Respite From Domestic Woes In Europa League

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur begin their Europa League commitments this week needing to find a way to overcome poor form in the English Premiership.

Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United are already looking much worse than how they fared last season, and they are now ranked outside the top 10, with just seven points after the first five games of the season. United had a hard campaign which ended with the team placing eighth in the premier league – easily the worst season in Ten Hag’s tenure but he retained his position after United won the FA Cup against Manchester City.

Compared to recent spending in the transfer market, United has not witness the turnaround that was expected in the team. In preparation for the first match of the Europa League last Wednesday, they have not been impressive in their displays. A goalless draw at Crystal Palace last Saturday tempered some of the optimism that came with a 3-0 win over Southampton, and a midweek League Cup triumph over Barnsley. However, Ten Hag remains confident, stating after the Palace draw:

They did well for the show, but we are unsatisfied with the results we got. I do realize that in football it is very obvious that if one has to continue to perform in such a manner then the points as well as the goals would follow.

United head back to the Europa League following a poor showing in the Champions League last term when they finished at the foot of their pool. A big test awaits United in a match against the Dutch side which is Twente making their debut in the Europa League this season and a win would ease the pressure on Ten Hag and his players.

Tottenham Seek Respite

Tottenham Hotspur are also coming into the game after a poor start to the domestic season in the Premier League. While they eased past Brentford in a 3-1 defeat at the weekend, they have had successive relegation in the English Premier League to Newcastle and Arsenal. Nonetheless, the Europa League is the genuine possibility for Spurs to change this situation and win their first trophy in 17 years because no teams are transferring from the Champions League to the Europa League in the season.

Tottenham host Azerbaijani club Qarabag on Thursday, and manager Ange Postecoglou remains focused on turning things around:

I can remember saying, ‘You never give me a success story without a struggle,’ to people. There are no shortcuts to the top, he said last week.

In other Europa League matches

Roma are in a poor run of form they recently dismissed their coach, Daniele De Rossi, and they are to take on Athletic Bilbao at the Stadio Olimpico. Still, Roma boasts a good pedigree for European football and was performing at least at the level of the UEFA Europa League’s semi-finals in three of the last four seasons this year having won the UEFA Europa Conference League to beat the 2022 season’s competition with Jose Mourinho as his coach. The club’s Chief Executive Officer Lina Souloukou has also stepped down from her position after she was bullied and threatened after sacking De Rossi.

Other interesting Europa League matches include last season's champions Eintracht Frankfurt squaring off with Viktoria Plzen and four times European champions Ajax taking on Besiktas at home in Amsterdam.

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