Fellaini set for advanced Man Utd role – Van Gaal

Michel Preud’homme believes his Club Brugge side will need divine intervention to prevent Manchester United from claiming a spot in the Champions League group stage.

Manchester United could look at Hugo Lloris to replace De Gea.

“They have beaten Greek opponents 3-0, they are capable of doing that with the support of their fans”.

In Tuesday’s games, Celtic has a 3-2 lead at Malmo, FC Basel and Maccabi Tel Aviv are tied 2-2 for the return leg in Israel, while Shakhtar Donetsk and Dinamo Zagreb play at home leading Rapid Vienna 1-0 and Skenderbeu of Albania 2-1, respectively.

Gary Lineker will present coverage of the big game on BT Sport Showcase from 7pm, alongside former England internationals and Manchester United legends Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand.

That result aside, United have struggled for goals this season, scoring only two in their three Premier League matches to date, and Van Gaal believes that Fellaini can help address the matter.

Louis van Gaal’s problem is that they have been poor so far this term. Van Gaal bemoans the lack of a world-class creative player in his squad.

But Depay could not replicate that display against Newcastle, prompting Van Gaal to remark drily that his performance against Club Brugge may have given the 21-year-old “too much” confidence.

There is no doubt that United now have the players, especially in central and wide midfield now, and yet they never quite look to have been granted the freedom required to play through teams like they used to. “I divide football into four main moments [phases]”, Van Gaal explained. “Now we are continuing with a lot of clean sheets so that is very important but we have to improve when we have the ball“. “But we have to improve when we have the ball”.

And his name is Marouane Fellaini.

The closest United have got to finding to to-class support for Wayne Rooney was the pursuit of Barcelona’s Pedro, but poor Ed Woodward failed to seal the deal, and Chelsea stole in to lure him to Stamford Bridge.

Lazio is looking to reach the Champions League group stage after an eight-year absence and ensure there will be three Italian representatives.