(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

With their top 4 bid in the Premier League now back on track, Manchester United will attempt to edge closer to the final stages of the Europa League.

The Red Devils will be up against Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne, whose performances of late have gone from impressive to quite disappointing.

Manchester United have found it increasingly difficult to break into the Premier League top 4, but even though they still occupy 6th position in the standings, their prospects of securing Champions League qualification are much better than they used to be.

Namely, following back to back wins over Leicester City and Watford, the Red Devils sit mere two points behind third-placed Spurs, with Arsenal and Liverpool sitting between them.

But, with ten days to go before Man Utd’s next Premier League fixture, the time has come to focus on other competitions and namely Europa League.

Having won each of their three group stage fixtures at Old Trafford, the Red Devils have been made 1.33 (1/3) favourites to defeat Saint-Etienne.

Captain Wayne Rooney should return to the side after recovering from illness, but Phil Jones remains doubtful through injury.

Bastian Schweinsteiger has been added to the Europa League squad, and he could play a part in the Saint-Etienne game.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): De Gea – Darmian, Smalling, Bailly, Shaw – Herrera, Carrick – Mkhitaryan, Pogba, Martial – Rooney.

Saint-Etienne have become regular in European competitions of late and this is third successive Europa League campaign and second time in a row in the knockout stages.

Les Verts are unbeaten in ten European fixtures this season (W5 D5), but, in all fairness, their opponents up to this point have not been of the highest standard.

This means that Saint-Etienne will have to be at their best if they want to get something from Old Trafford, although their last two performances on the road have not been impressive.

After conceding three goals in extra time of the Coupe de France clash with Auxerre, les Verts were beaten by title-chasing Nice, but they then produced a perfect response.

The weekend’s 4-0 triumph over Lorient should serve as a major confidence boost ahead of the trip to Old Trafford, where centre-back Florentin Pogba could be up against his younger brother Paul Pogba.

The visitors will be missing some important players in Cheikh M’Bengue, Oussama Tannane and Alexander Soderlund, but Robert Beric is back.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Ruffier – Malcuit, Catherine, Perrin, Pogba – Veretout, Pajot – Hammouma, Saivet, Monnet-Paquet – Roux.