Manchester United vs Paris Saint-Germain - Champions League Round of 16 Preview and Odds

Published on: 12/02/2019

Manchester United vs Paris Saint-Germain - Champions League Round of 16 Preview and Odds

February 12, 2019 20:00pm - Old Trafford

Champions League - Round of 16 - First Leg

After a blistering run of form in the league under new boss Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Manchester United now get to test their mettle against one of Europe`s top teams. Opponents, Paris Saint-Germain, are walking away with their domestic league, making the Champions League their number one priority.

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer has yet to taste defeat as Manchester United boss. A record of 10 wins and a draw from 11 matches has lifted the Red Devils into the top four and taken them to the fifth round of the FA Cup. Next up is their toughest challenge yet - a two-legged Champions League clash against a European giant.

Matches like this used to be bread and butter for United, but their recent form in this competition has not been great. They won just three of their Group Stage matches this season and were dumped out of the competition by Sevilla at the same stage last term. In the 2015/16 campaign, they failed to emerge from the Group stage. In fact, they have only reached the quarter-final stage of the competition once since 2012.

But after years of underachievement, the Old Trafford club finally look back to their best having reconnected with key figures from their glorious past, with Alex Ferguson`s former No. 2 Mike Phelan reviving his old role, this time under Solksjaer.

The two sides have never met in a competitive match, so Tuesday night will offer the chance to set a precedent.

PSG will arrive in England 10 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 with two games in hand on second-ranked Lille. They have lost just one league match all season, scoring 68 goals and conceding just 13 in the process.

There is a suggestion their domestic dominance leaves the French champions unprepared for the challenge of the latter stages of this competition. And with just three wins in their last nine Champions League away matches, there could be some substance to this claim. Those three wins came at Celtic, Anderlecht and Crvena Zvezda, while recent trips to Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona all ended in defeat.

With key players Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Thomas Meunier set to miss out on Tuesday night, the odds look stacked against PSG in the first leg of this tie.

Recent form (all competitions)

Manchester United: WWDWW

Paris Saint-Germain: WWLWW

Betting odds and tips

Both teams arrive in great form, but PSGs poor away form in this competition and the absence of their key players will hand the advantage to the in-form hosts.

You can back the Home win at 27/20.

By Neil Morris