Manchester United welcome Galatasaray at Old Trafford hoping to turn their season around and keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages.
United lost their first game against Bayern Munich while Galatasaray could only draw against 10-men Copenhagen.
That makes it a must-win affair for both sides, promising for an exciting clash.
Here are the top three things to watch out for in the thrilling UCL fixture-
A homecoming and Premier League Central station
When Galatasaray’s team news dropped, chances are that United fans will recognise a number of names on the sheet, including a return to Old Trafford for Wilfried Zaha.
The Ivorian spent a turbulent time at United which threatened to derail his career completely. Since then, he rebuilt it at Crystal Palace before finally making his UCL move to Galatasaray.
He relishes making an impact against United and Diogo Dalot will have some job on his hands to minimise his impact.
However, he’s not the only familiar name. Galatasaray went on somewhat of a Premier League reunion shopping recently.
The likes of Davinson Sanchez and Tanguy Ndombele (ex-Spurs), Lucas Torreira (ex-Arsenal), and Angelino (ex-City) are some players who play for the Turkish side now. That’s without counting ex-Chelsea man Hakim Ziyech, who is currently injured and expected to miss this clash.
Galatasaray’s trip to Old Trafford will make it a Premier League Central station, and fans will have bones to pick with all these players.
A return on the right
Erik ten Hag strongly suggested in his press conference that Antony has a chance to feature against Galatasaray after his 19-day leave of absence ended recently.
He hasn’t had many training sessions since but he remains a Ten Hag favourite. Moreover, nobody has impressed emphatically in his position while he was absent.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see him immediately thrust into the right-wing spot.
Galatasaray’s fullback position is a potential soft spot. Ten Hag will be looking to unleash his first-choice wingers for this contest to better the team’s chances.
Antony was widely scrutinised for his form prior to his absence, but the performances while he was absent have upped his stock dramatically. Now it’s up to him to make good on that fact.
Is a debut on the cards?
United fans were somewhat surprised when Ten Hag didn’t select backup goalkeeper Altay Bayindir for the League Cup game against Crystal Palace.
The manager has since revealed his reasoning, citing Onana’s need to get used to his teammates and English football as to why that decision was made.
However, the noise around Bayindir has been quite high in the lead-up to this game. Furthermore, he has experience of playing against Turkish opposition. Therefore, Ten Hag might think this is the game to ease him into the United colours, even though it is a borderline must-win fixture.
It would be a huge mark of confidence in the player if Ten Hag decided to go that way. It remains to be seen if he does.