Manchester United could unleash a new midfield in Europa League fixture vs Barcelona

After chalking up 14 wins in their last 15 Old Trafford outings, Manchester United will rightly head into Thursday night's Europa League clash with Barcelona with confidence flowing through their veins.

Last Thursday's pulsating 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou has set the tone ahead of what should be another mouthwatering contest between two clubs with ambitions of returning to the top step of European football. United produced an outstanding performance in Spain last week, so much so that star man Marcus Rashford said the result 'felt like a loss'.

Despite the Reds' undisputed improvements this season, few would have given them a chance of visiting the Camp Nou and going toe-to-toe with Barcelona in the manner that they did. They matched them stride for stride and had it not been for some rusty finishing they would have come out on top.

READ MORE: United get double injury boost ahead of Barcelona clash

What was most impressive about their performance in Spain last week was the amount of key players they were without. Although Casemiro was temporarily freed from his domestic suspension to be involved, they had to make to do without Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Marcel Sabitzer, Anthony Martial and Antony, plus others.

Although Eriksen and Martial remain sidelined, Martinez, Sabitzer and Antony are all back in contention for the visit of Xavi's La Liga table-toppers. Martinez and Sabitzer, who both started Sunday's 3-0 win over Leicester City, missed the trip to the Camp Nou through suspension and Antony was sidelined with a leg injury.

While Martinez will be a shoo-in at centre-back this evening, and Antony might be reintegrated into the team slowly and start on the bench, there is a lot less certainty about the role