FC Copenhagen vs Manchester United
FC Copenhagen vs Manchester United will be at Parken on Wednesday, and United will be hoping to significantly increase their prospects of advancing to the Champions League round of 16.
After two straight losses, United entered their Matchday 3 home match against Copenhagen leading Group A. However, a thrilling 1-0 victory at Old Trafford—which saw André Onana save a penalty in the final seconds to secure the three points and Harry Maguire nod in the game’s winner—rekindled the Red Devils’ hopes of moving on.
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In that encounter, Copenhagen had their highest number of shots ever in an away Champions League match—16. The most efforts they have made in a single campaign against a team in both encounters is 29, set against Borussia Dortmund the previous year. Jacob Neestrup’s team has the opportunity to beat that record on Wednesday, and ideally with a better outcome to increase their own chances of qualifying. With one point from three games, they are presently at the bottom of the standings.
With a victory on Wednesday, Man Utd may overtake the Turkish team and move up to third position, one point behind second-place Galatasaray, ahead of their potentially pivotal matchup at RAMS Park on MD 5.
United lost their first Champions League away game under Erik ten Hag, going down 4-3 away at Bayern Munich, but the Dutch manager has never previously lost consecutive away matches in the competition. In fact, he’s already lost as many Champions League away games in charge of United (one) as he did in 16 in charge of previous club Ajax (10 wins, 5 draws, 1 defeat).
Copenhagen, meanwhile, are winless in their last six home games in the Champions League, although five of those matches have ended in draws (L1). Indeed, only five combined goals have been scored across these six matches (two for, three against), with four of them ending 0-0.
The Danish side may have lost their last two Champions League games, but they have never lost three straight in the competition before, and Ten Hag has real selection worries heading into Wednesday’s clash.
As for team news, aside from the long-term absences of Lisandro Martínez, Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw, both Victor Lindelöf and Marcus Rashford were missing from the lineup for the 1-0 win over Fulham at the weekend. The former was out with illness, while the latter failed a fitness test before kick-off following criticism for celebrating his birthday hours after United had been thumped 3-0 at home to rivals Manchester City the previous weekend.
Lindelöf and Rashford are both doubts but should play at least some part, while Jadon Sancho continues to be frozen out after a public spat with Ten Hag saw him suspended from the first-team squad in September. Casemiro is also unavailable after picking up a strain that will keep him out for several weeks. Antony was in the team at the weekend but after a poor performance he could drop out again.
Rashford hasn’t scored in any of his last seven appearances for United in the Champions League, with his last strike coming in October 2021 against Atalanta. If he is fit enough to play and fails to find the net on Wednesday, it will be his longest run of appearances without scoring in the competition (also a run of seven between February-November 2018).
For Neestrup, it’s unclear whether he will have striker Andreas Cornelius available for selection after going off at half-time in the 4-2 league win over Randers at the weekend, while Mohamed Elyounoussi is also doubtful for Wednesday’s game. William Clem, Davit Khocholava and Birger Meling are all out injured.
FC Copenhagen vs Manchester United Head-to-Head
Copenhagen’s first ever Champions League victory was a 1-0 home win against Manchester United on MD 4 in the 2006-07 edition, though they are winless in their last 10 games against English sides in European competition, failing to score in their last eight such games.
United, meanwhile, have won seven of their 10 meetings with Danish sides in all European competition (one draw, two losses), though both defeats have come in their last three such away games.
Man Utd’s 1-0 win over Copenhagen on MD 3 ended a run of five Champions League games without a victory and was their first clean sheet in the competition since November 2021, preserved by Onana’s vital penalty save in the 97th minute.
