How Manchester United should line up vs Athletic Bilbao in Europa League fixture

Manchester United take on Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final tonight.

After an open training session at Carrington on Wednesday morning, United travelled to the Basque Country and they will attempt to return to Manchester with a positive result.

It has been 'Bilbao or bust' at Old Trafford for a few months now. Ruben Amorim understands winning the Europa League is the only way to salvage a miserable campaign, but Bilbao have the best defensive record in La Liga and will be tricky opponents at the Estadio de San Mames.

Regarding the team news, both Matthijs de Ligt and Amad returned to first-team training on Wednesday and were included in the squad that travelled to Spain later in the day, meaning they could be included in the matchday squad.

Here's how our writers think United should line up...

United possibly have to play the percentages tonight, which means starting a more cautious team than they would ideally like to. It is not ideal having to essentially start eight defensive players but it is probably the logical starting point.

Manuel Ugarte for Kobbie Mainoo should be the only change. That is a tad harsh on Mainoo but United are not in a position to go hell for leather against Athletic Bilbao. Mainoo could still have a big part to play tonight, as he did off the bench in Lyon.

Hopefully for United, they are in a position to field a more expansive XI next week, when Matthijs de Ligt and Amad should have had some minutes.

When the starting team was confirmed against Bournemouth last weekend, it felt like there would be a maximum of two changes for Athletic Bilbao, but I would actually go unchanged.

The contentious selection would probably be Mainoo alongside Casemiro in the pivot. Most