Manchester United is currently the favorite to win their first European trophy in seven years, and they will have a big edge over Premier League rivals Tottenham if they play them in the Europa League final. Spurs defeated Bodo/Glimt, while United crushed Athletic Bilbao in their respective first-leg semifinal victories on Thursday night. Both English teams scored three goals.
Casemiro gave Basque Country the lead, and Bruno Fernandes scored twice, the first from a contentious penalty in the 35th minute, to put Ruben Amorim’s team solidly in control. James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, and Dominic Solanke scored goals as Tottenham defeated the first-ever Norwegian team to advance to a major European semi-final.
The mediocrity of their domestic campaigns may be concealed by such decisive outcomes, but plans are already in motion for a possible all-English final on May 21. Additionally, preliminary predictions indicate that United supporters might have more reason to be hopeful than their rivals in north London.
Why Manchester United Will Win the Europa League Final Against Tottenham
The Red Devils have benefited greatly from the fixture scheduling.
The Red Devils are currently the favorites to win the Europa League trophy, and if they play Tottenham in the final, they will have an advantage in terms of scheduling, as they will have 42 more hours to recover from their previous Premier League game.
On Friday, May 16, United plays Chelsea at 8 p.m., and on Sunday, May 18, Spurs play Aston Villa at 2:15 p.m. Villa turned down Tottenham’s desire to advance their game in order to obtain an advantage. Below are the respective fixture schedules for the two teams:
May scheduling for Man United and Tottenham’s games
United Manchester
Tottenham
Date
Fixture
At home or elsewhere
The next fixture is coming up.
Date
Fixture
At home or elsewhere
The next fixture is coming up.
May 4.
Brentford
Out of the way
Four days
May 4.
West Ham
Out of the way
Four days
May 8.
Bilbao Athletic
House
Three days
May 8.
Glimt/Bodo
Out of the way
Five days
May 11.
West Ham
House
Five days
May 11.
Palace of Cystal
House
Seven days
May 16.
Chelsea
Out of the way
Five days
May 18.
Villa Aston
Out of the way
Three days
May 21.
Tottenham
Indifferent
Four days
May 21.
United Manchester
Indifferent
Four days
25 May
Villa Aston
House
Seasonal conclusion
25 May
Brighton
House
Seasonal conclusion
Spurs suggested a Thursday match, which would have given them more time off than United, but Villa, who had just been eliminated from Europe, decided to focus on a more manageable domestic run-in in order to finish in the top five, according to BBC Sport.
Any accusations that one team is significantly better off than the other, however, would seem academic given that both teams would probably rotate heavily in their last domestic games to keep their best players fresh for the May 21 matchup in Bilbao, as there isn’t much left to play for in the league.
However, from the standpoint of those vying with Villa for Champions League qualifying, there is a legitimate reason for yet another rearranging of the fixtures, as detailed in the post above.
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