Lyon 2-2 Manchester United: UEFA Europa League result as Andre Onana errors cost victory

If they can somehow win this competition and qualify for next season's Champions League, the amount of money they'll have to spend in the summer will be of an entirely different order to what they'll have if they don't. Especially given there's no tournament this summer, giving any new signings time to settle and the team time to gel, these are some of the biggest games since Alex Ferguson retired.

They struggle to score and with just three attackers on the pitch, that looks unlikely to change tonight. On the other hand, Lyon should offer them space, so look for Bruno Fernandes to drift wherever he wants, looking to get on the ball and find killer passes in behind for Rasmus Hojlund who, the weekend aside, has looked better in recent weeks, making much better runs. I expect Patrick Dorgu to try and make an extra man wherever possible but, though he's played pretty well so far, he's not been great close to goal. Which is a bit of a problem, given a formation that demands its wing-backs score and create.

United have been fairly good in defence recently – three centre-backs, two defensive midfielders, and wing-backs who are defenders really ought to guarantee that. Lyon will, I'm sure, want their full-backs to exploit the space in behind Dalot and Dorgu, while Cherki and Almada will be roaming about looking for space. The former has the talent to be a very serious player, and stopping him will, I'm sure, be a key part of United's strategy and one of the principal reasons Casemiro and Ugarte both play; though he'll start off the right, look for him to wander infield and play of Mikautadze.

That Paulo Fonseca has left out his old men. United's best attacking performance under Amorim came in the last round against Sociedad, partly because they had a significant physical advantage. That won't have escaped the wily Fonseca – and don't be surprised to see Matic and Lacazette used as finishers, once things slow down.

Whisper it, but Casemiro has played well in recent weeks, so while Ruben Amorim was doubtless tempted to play Bruno Fernandes deep in order to sneak in another attacker, he goes for solidity, at least to begin with, the Brazilian partnering Manuel Ugarte in the double-pivot. Otherwise Alejandro Garnacho, very poor at the weekend, keeps his spot as United's only attacker with pace, while Mathijs de Ligt is still out injured.

INJURY AGGRO FOR LYON

Malick Fofana and Ernest Nuamah, Lyon's young wingers, are both out injured – Nuamah for quite some time, having just jiggered his ACL. Otherwise, the two veterans, Nemanja Matic and Alexandre Lacazette, are on the bench.

Then we'll consider what they might mean.

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Hello and welcome to LIVE updates from the Europa League clash between Lyon and Manchester United. Kick-off 8pm BST.