The Europa League final is upon us! Villarreal and Man United are gearing up for a highly-anticipated showdown, with one of these two tricky sides set to come away with the coveted European crown.
Both teams had interesting paths to the final. The Red Devils had to overcome Real Sociedad, AC Milan, Granada, and then Roma in a thrilling semi-final showdown while the Yellow Submarine got past the likes of Salzburg, Dynamo Kiev, Dinamo Zagreb, and finally Arsenal to make it to Gdańsk.
A lot is at stake. For the Spaniards, they look to lift the title in order to secure a spot in the UEFA Champions League while the Premier League giants go in search of their first piece of silverware under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Who will win this exciting final? Here are four interesting stats you should know ahead of this tie.
How have their previous encounters fared?
These two sides have met four times before. As the saying goes, history is important, but for the sake of the game, we hope that this will be one of the rare exceptions as their head-to-head record does not make for an exciting read. All of their four encounters ended in goalless draw, a scoreline that rarely lingers in the memory of football fans.
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) May 26, 2021
Spanish vs English teams in the final of this competition Which game do you remember best? #UELfinal pic.twitter.com/QC3WMqKsMj
Will we be in for another goalless affair?
Fortunately, that looks unlikely. Villarreal have played 14 games in the Europa League this season while Man United have had eight outings in this tournament, having entered in the round of 32 after crashing out of the UEFA Champions League group stage. Both teams scored in all but one of their UEL outings. Here's a quick rundown of their stats:
Villarreal
Games played: 14
Matches won: 12
Goals scored: 27
Goals conceded: 8
Man United
Games played: 8
Matches won: 5
Goals scored: 18
Goals conceded: 6
It seems unlikely that the Yellow Submarine, who average 1.93 goals per game, and Man United, who average 2.25 goals per game, will play out a goalless draw. A quick side note: while the Red Devils do have the better goals-per-game ratio, they have conceded an average of 0.75 goals per game, with Emery's side boasting a better tally (0.57).
Why Solskjaer should fear the Moreno-Chukwueze partnership
There are huge doubts over the fitness of Samuel Chukwueze, but should the Nigerian feature against the Red Devils, Ole should be wary of both him and Gerard Moreno. The reasons are obvious: the Villarreal duo have the joint-most assists this season, setting up five goals each (also tied with Braga's Galeno).
Furthermore, while Chukwueze has only one goal under his belt, his Spanish team-mate has netted an impressive six times this entire season. Two more goals and the highly-rated attacker could come away with the season's Golden Boot. Given that Harry Maguire, the heart of Man United's defense, is struggling for fitness, the Spaniards will likely take much-needed confidence from this.
Unai Emery chasing a personal record
Emery is known as Mr. Europa League thanks to his three consecutive titles at Sevilla. At Arsenal, he led them to the final, which he sadly lost, and will now feature in the ultimate game once more. Currently, he is tied with the iconic Italian manager Giovanni Trapattoni for most Europa League titles won by a single coach (3). One more success and the former PSG boss will hold that record all to himself.
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