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Former Liverpool and Manchester United striker Michael Owen has backed the Red Devils to come out victorious in their Europa League final against Villarreal on Wednesday.
Owen believes Manchester United enter the final in Gdansk as the favorites. But at the same time, he also pointed out that Villarreal have been undefeated in the tournament so far.
Unai Emery, the Spanish side's manager, has an enviable Europa League record with three title wins to his name, all with former club Sevilla. Despite Emery's record and the possible absence of Manchester United captain Harry Maguire, Owen predicted a 2-1 win for the English side in his BetVictor column.
“Manchester United go into the Europa League final as favorites. However, their opponents are undefeated in this year’s competition and have a manager at the helm in Unai Emery that can boast of winning this competition three times in the past, which is more than any other.
“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be desperate to win his first trophy as United manager, although if they are to be successful here, they’ll most likely have to do it without injured captain Harry Maguire.
“I think United will be happy to give up some territory to the Spaniards in the hope they can utilize their counter-attack that has been such a potent weapon for them throughout the season.
“There’s no doubt Villarreal will be wary of that, and although I think the Yellow Submarine have enough to get on the score-sheet, I reckon it’ll be United that will be collecting the winner’s medals come full-time. It’s 2-1 to the side from Manchester for me," wrote Owen.
Chance for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to open his trophy account for Manchester United
Manchester United have had one of their best post-Sir Alex Ferguson seasons, finishing second in the Premier League behind Manchester City. They went down in the FA Cup quarter-finals and the Carabao Cup semi-finals but the Europa League was a different story.
After dropping into the Europa League following their Champions League group stage exit, Manchester United regrouped and made their first-ever final under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Before the Europa League semi-final victory over Roma, Solskjaer had lost all four of his semi-finals with Manchester United. He will hope that his first final with the club will also bring him his first piece of silverware as the club's manager.
