Manchester United vs Basel: Match Preview, predicted line up and TV info

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Old Trafford, Sep 12: After almost a two-year nonappearance, Manchester United will initiate their arrival to the Champions League on Wednesday (September 13) when they will line up against Swiss giant FC Basel at Old Trafford.

United, who qualified for the tournament by winning the Europa League last season, will enter the competition for the third time since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, who left in 2013.

The Red Devils' last appearance in the competition finished on an acrid note, being wiped out in the group stages in third place, entering the Europa League, just to be unceremoniously dumped out of that competition by Liverpool.

And now after returning to the top European competition Jose Mourinho's side will be sure of going much better this year, and getting into the knockout rounds.

Form:

Jose Mourinho's side is playing some truly energizing football and they will hope they can get all the three points in this match. The Red Devils have won three matches and drew only once in their last four Premier League encounters this season.

On the other hand, FC Basel are facing a tough time in their season and will be coming to Old Trafford with three straight games without a win. The team struggling in the scoring area and they have to change that if they want to have a shot at getting anything out of this game against Manchester United.

Team News:

Mourinho will be without two of his first team centre backs Phil Jones and Eric Bailly as both are facing suspension and the manager has already confirmed that in their place Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling will be taking the field.

Both Daley Blind and Juan Mata could again return to the first Xi after being sidelined for the game at the Bet365 Stadium but Fellaini who missed out the same match is doubtful for the tie.

On the other hand, Basel don't have any major injuries or suspensions ahead of the match and could name an unchanged side that played against Lausanne-Sport on Saturday.

Head to head:

The two met 4 times in total in 2002-03 and 2011-12. They have one win respectively, and twice their duels ended with a draw. Both of the draws occurred at Old Trafford.

Predicted Line up:

Manchester United Starting Lineup (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Lindelof, Blind; Matic, Pogba; Mata, Mkhitaryan, Martial; Lukaku.

Basel Starting Lineup (4-2-3-1): Vaclik; Lang, Suchy, Akanji, Riveros; Xhaka, Die; Steffen, Zuffi, Bua; van Wolfswinkel.

TV Guide:

The match will kick off at 00.15 IST on Wednesday(13/9/2017) at the Old Trafford Stadium and the Indian viewers can tune in to Sony Ten 2 for live actions.