With nothing left to lose, Manchester United’s season hinges on one match as the Red Devils host Real Sociedad in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League Round of 16 matchup.
Ruben Amorim’s side have seen their domestic season become miserably obsolete. They are almost surely safe from relegation, but they have very little to fight for, with the European qualification spots far away and their domestic cup challenges over. Thus, the European campaign is all they have left, with the aggregate scoreline level at 1-1 after a draw in Spain last week.
Joshua Zirkzee had put United ahead just before the hour mark, but a penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal leveled the score 20 minutes shy of the final whistle.
Real Sociedad will look to take advantage of a depleted United back line and catch the Red Devils off guard at Old Trafford, but they have been mired in a bad slump over the last few weeks and don’t look to be a truly difficult test.
MORE: Harry Maguire speaks to The Sporting News about “togetherness” for Europa League run
Man United vs. Real Sociedad prediction, odds
- Moneyline lean: Man United (-115 on DraftKings)
- Score prediction: Man United 2-0 Real Sociedad
While this Man United side feels ripe for the picking as they struggle with countless injuries and poor performances, it’s truly impossible to trust the Real Sociedad attack to test them in the slightest.
La Real haven’t scored an open-play goal in four matches across all competitions, and the underlying numbers don’t seem to indicate that’s any kind of anomaly. In fact, the bigger fluke is the goal they did score, as Oyarzabal’s penalty in the first leg of this tie resulted from a fortunate handball by Bruno Fernandes.
Martin Zubimendi, Oyarzabal and Takefusa Kubo all started on the bench over the weekend and will hope to be rejuvenated, but that seems a longshot. This feels especially true of Kubo, who is an important player for the Spanish side but has been stuck in the mud all season long.
United may not be overly convincing, but they should emerge victorious and keep the European journey alive unless they shoot themselves in the foot.
| DraftKings (USA) |
|
| Man United win | -115 |
| Draw | +230 |
| Real Sociedad win | +360 |
| Both teams to score |
Y: +100 N: -125 |
| Over / Under 2.5 goals |
O: +120 U: -165 |
| Man United to advance |
-230 |
| Real Sociedad to advance |
+180 |
Man United vs. Real Sociedad match facts
- Date: Thursday, March 13, 2025
- Kickoff Time: 8 p.m. local (4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT)
- Location: Old Trafford (Manchester, England)
- Referee: Benoit Bastien (FRA)
- Last meeting: Real Sociedad 1-1 Man United (Mar. 6, 2025 | Europa League)
MORE: Latest team news and injury updates ahead of Man United vs. Real Sociedad
Man United vs. Real Sociedad best bet
After an early 2025 slump, Bruno Fernandes looks back to his best in the attacking third, looking to carry nearly the entirety of the United attack on his shoulders.
The Portugal international had just two goal contributions across an eight-game stretch in the Premier League from Dec. 22 to Feb. 16, but he has managed two goals and an assist in his last three domestic matches. He’s been unlucky not to grab one in his last two European games as well, totaling 1.75 xG+xA in those two matches without profit.
While the United attack isn’t exactly potent, Fernandes does the bulk of the work and is good value to break through a Real Sociedad side that tries to frustrate the opponent but is only successful at doing so on some of those occasions.
Man United vs. Real Sociedad prop bet
- Pick: Real Sociedad goalkeeper 4+ saves
- Odds: +140 (FanDuel)
If there’s one thing this piecemeal United attack is good at, it’s getting off shots — bad ones. Tey are 10th in the Premier League in shots on target, and also middle of the pack with a 36% shot-on-target rate.
Yet those chances are never quite good enough. The Red Devils rank second-to-last in the English top flight with just 0.26 xGOT/SOT, meaning they are constantly putting the ball in saveable positions.
Being at home, United should manage to at least match if not exceed the 13 shots they put on Alex Remiro’s net in the first leg, which should result in at least four efforts on target if not more (they hit for five in last week’s match, with Remiro making four saves). It’s fair to expect a number of those efforts to be in saveable positions.
