Villarreal vs Man Utd: Europa League final team news and prediction

Villarreal and Manchester United will contest the 2020/21 Europa League final with both looking to finish their respective seasons with a bang.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is desperate to win his first trophy as United manager and the club's fifth major European title.  

Victory for Villarreal, however, would be the club's first major European trophy in their history, having only won the Intertoto Cup previously.

Ahead of the Europa League final, we have all your need-to-know matchday information in one place, including kick-off time, where you can watch it and all your team news.

When is kick off?
Wednesday 25th May, 20:00 GMT
Where is the match?
Stadion Energe Gdansk, Poland
What TV channel is it on?
BT Sport 1 / BT Sport Ultimate / BT Sport YouTube

Previous Meetings

If their previous encounters are anything to go by then Wednesday's final is going to stink the place out. They faced each other four times in the space of three years from 2005 to 2008 and every game finished 0-0. Not a single goal scored between them across four games! Let's hope for better fortunes this time around!

Route to the Final

Villarreal are undefeated in the Europa League this season, impressively winning 10 of their 13 matches in the competition. The Yellow Submarines have already defeated Premier League opposition in Arsenal this season, beating the Gunners over two legs in the semi-finals.

Manchester United criminally finished third in their Champions League group to drop down to the Europa League knock-out stage. The Red Devils have eliminated Real Sociedad, AC Milan, Granada and Roma en route to reaching their second Europa League final in four years.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer vs Unai Emery

Wednesday's Europa League final is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first chance of silverware as Manchester United manager, having fallen at the semi-final stage at four attempts previously. Progress hasn't been smooth sailing for the baby-faced assassin but a trophy would certainly show they are moving in the right direction.

While United are certainly the bigger club and favourites on paper, they are the underdogs as far as the two managers are concerned. While Solskjaer is a novice at this level, Unai Emery has all the experience in the world, particularly in this competition. In fact, Emery is the most successful coach in the competition's history, winning it three times and reaching another final with Arsenal. He certainly has the edge there.

Team News

Juan Foyth and Samuel Chukwueze are major doubts ahead of Wednesday's final, though both look set to miss out. Vicente Iborra is also sidelined for Unai Emery's side. Manu Trigueros may have to play on the right wing as cover for Chukwueze with Moi Gomez coming in on the left. Emery's biggest decision will be who starts up front out of Carlos Bacca and Paco Alcacer alongside star man Gerard Moreno.

Manchester United are sweating on the fitness of captain Harry Maguire, with the England international running out of time to overcome an ankle injury. He has travelled but is not expected to feature, joining Anthony Martial on the sidelines. Axel Tuanzebe may get the nod over Eric Bailly, who joined United from Villarreal, is Maguire misses out. Other than that, Mason Greenwood can feel hard done by if he doesn't start but Marcus Rashford is favourite for that right wing position. David de Gea lost his No.1 spot to Dean Henderson earlier in the season but should start this final in what could prove his last game for the club.

Probable XIs

Villarreal (442): Rulli; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Trigueros, Parejo, Capoue, Gomez; Bacca, Moreno

Man Utd (4231): De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Shaw; Fred, McTominay; Rashford, Fernandes, Pogba; Cavani

Key Battle: Gerard Moreno vs Edinson Cavani

Gerard Moreno has been a revelation for Villarreal this season and should really be in the running to start for Spain at Euro 2020 after his call-up on Monday. The 29-year-old played a direct hand in more goals than any other Spanish player in Europe's top 5 leagues this season (30) and has also scored or assisted nine goals in 10 Europa League appearances in 2020/21. Moreno has directly contributed to a goal against every team he has started against in the Europa League this season so he is certainly Villarreal's biggest hope of winning Wednesday's final.

Manchester United, meanwhile, will be quietly confident in their own front man on Wednesday night. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was ridiculed for his decision to sign Edinson Cavani last summer but the veteran striker has transformed United's attack this season. Cavani has scored 16 goals in all competitions this season despite only starting 20 times out of his 38 appearances. Cavani has 12 goals and assists in his last 10 appearances and was directly involved in six of United's eight goals in the Europa League semi-finals.

Scoreline Prediction: Villarreal 1-1 Man Utd