(Football news) Both clubs enter this contest after picking up nine points from their first five fixtures, with the Red Devils sitting 12th in the 36-team table and just one place above Plzen in 13th spot.
After making an unbeaten start to life as Manchester United manager in his first three games at the helm (W2 D1), Ruben Amorim has since suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats in the space of just three days to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
A 2-0 Premier League defeat away against Arsenal was followed by a disappointing 3-2 home loss to Nottingham Forest last Saturday, a result that leaves Manchester United languishing in 13th place in the table with just 19 points—their lowest tally after 15 matches since the 1986-87 campaign.
Amorim admitted after the match that Manchester United’s lack of quality ultimately cost them against Forest, reiterating that there is no quick-fix to the issues he is facing, and a “long journey” is required to return success to Old Trafford.
Before turning their attention to the small matter of the Manchester derby on Sunday, Man United will shift their focus back to the Europa League, where they have won two and drawn three of their opening five fixtures in the newly formed League Phase – including a 3-2 win over Bodo/Glimt last time out—to sit just one point behind the automatic last-16 spots.
Not since the 2013-14 campaign has Manchester United opened up a European campaign with a six-game unbeaten streak, while they travel to Plzen on Thursday seeking to win their first-ever away match on Czech soil, having previously drawn two and lost one of their last three visits.
After reaching the quarterfinals of last season’s Conference League, Viktoria Plzen remain in contention to advance to the knockout rounds of a European competition for the second successive year, as they—to the surprise of some—have made an unbeaten start to their Europa League campaign this term.
Two wins and three draws have been posted by Miroslav Koubek’s side, who followed up three consecutive draws with back-to-back 2-1 victories over Real Sociedad and Dynamo Kiev, beating the latter away from home a fortnight ago to move to within one point of the top eight with three games remaining.
Pavel Sulc was on the scoresheet against Dynamo Kiev, and he has since increased his goal tally for the season to 10 after netting a late brace in last weekend’s 2-1 comeback victory over Karvina in the Czech First League.
The six-time Czech champions, who have not lost any of their last seven games in all competitions (W6 D1), currently sit second in the top-flight standings at the halfway stage, but they are 10 points behind unbeaten leaders Slavia Prague.
Plzen are now focused on the Europa League and are vying to win their first-ever European game against English opposition on Thursday, having previously lost 3-0 at home and 4-2 away against Manchester City in the 2013-14 Champions League.
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