In the first leg of the match up, at Old Trafford, Manchester United dominated in every sense, only allowing Club Brugge one attempt on goal, which resulted in a bizarre own goal from Michael Carrick.
Depay, on the left wing, was able to show off his skill set against the Brugge defence, and managed to score 2 goals. He should be able to put in a similar shift in the away leg.
The second leg takes place in Belgium’s capital city, Bruges, in the Jan Breydel Stadium. Brugge’s home stadium holds 29,062 spectators and is expected to be a sell out.
Once again, David De Gea is not in the squad, and hasn’t been taken to Belgium. Other than that, van Gaal has taken a full strength side despite being 3-1 up.
The 18 man squad that flew out from Manchester Airport today include: Romero, Johnstone, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Shaw, McNair, Schneiderlin, Carrick, Mata, Depay, Young, Januzaj, Fellaini, Schweinsteiger, Herrera, Hernández and, Rooney.
The Dutch manager isn’t taking any chances and is out to guarantee a spot in the group stages of the Champions League. Many expected youngsters by the likes of Lingard, Pereira, Wilson or Blackett to make an appearance with the tie all but won.
Predictions
Even with their best efforts, the Club Brugge defence will once again struggle to contain Memphis Depay and hopefully Herrera will play more that 30 minutes.
With van Gaal going all out in his squad selection, he won’t be taking any prisoners. It wouldn’t be surprising if United best their last score line and win 4 or even 5-0 and secure their place in the Champions League with a landslide victory.
