Sheriff vs. Manchester United Betting Tips: Casemiro features in trio of selections for Red Devils' UEL away trip

Man United travel to Moldova Thursday tea time, as Sheriff Tiraspol play host to the three-time European Champions live on BT Sport 2.

United’s last outing came in this competition 7 days ago as they opened their Europa campaign with a 1-0 defeat at home to Real Sociedad. The win for the Spanish side ended a run of 4 consecutive wins for the Red Devils, meaning a response here is vital away from home. In hope for a reaction for his side, Ten Haag will likely go with a strong starting 11 here as this trip to Moldova is their last fixture before an international break following the postponement of Leeds on the weekend – United’s next fixture is on the 3rd of October, so heading off on a win is the goal to get their Group E progress back on track.

Sheriff Tiraspol head into this fixture as the underdog but their form is definitely worth acknowledging. They defeated Omonia Nicosia in their Group E opener 3-0 away from home, which puts them top of the group. That win makes it 3 on the bounce for the Moldovan side, stretching an unbeaten run to 8 games. Their last encounter with English sides ended in narrow defeats for Sheriff, a pair of 2-0 and 2-1 loses Vs Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 were inflicted by now Man United midfielder Christian Eriksen at this stage of the competition in the 13/14 campaign.

At just shy of even money, for my best bet I am backing the heavy favourites to win without reply, best priced with BetVictor.

United have no reason to not go with a strong 11 here and Ten Haag will be aware that his side won’t play again until the start of October. This is a great opportunity to get off the mark in Group E, and with his first choice back 4 at the helm, I can see Sheriff struggling with the step up in quality.

Man United haven’t been free flowing going forward in recent weeks, but should have enough here to get their noses in front and from then on it’s a case of seeing the game out. During that impressive four-game winning run, United kept 2 clean sheets, with just 2 goals against coming vs Liverpool and Arsenal. Sheriff have failed to score in four of their last nine European games vs opponents with much less quality than this Manchester United side.

The former Madrid midfielder is yet to start a Premier League game, but did complete 90 minutes vs Sociedad, so I expect him to start in this competition once again. He managed 3 shots and 2 on target last time out, and despite the fact United were chasing the game, it was against much lesser opposition.

Over the years during his time in Spain, Casemiro has always had decent shot numbers for a holding midfielder - in his previous two seasons across La Liga he managed an average of 1.4 shots per game. United should have all of the ball here vs a low block Sheriff side. Shots from range could be a possibility and Casemiro is also a threat from set plays.

I’m happy to take 6/5 for him to have 2 shots as the safer play here, with a smaller stake on 2 shots on target at 9/1, which landed in his last appearance for the Reds.