Real Sociedad eased into the Champions League group stage but they have been fairly wretched since and travel to Old Trafford on Wednesday.
A 4-0 aggregate success over Lyon in the preliminaries sent the La Liga club into the tournament proper for the first time in a decade but their form this season has been awful and already it’s a must-win match in Manchester.
On opening day win over Getafe was followed by a streak of seven winless matches and even Saturday’s much needed 2-1 victory at the Mestalla is unlikely to have restored total confidence among Jagoba Arrasate’s men.
Still inside the bottom half, Sociedad have found the net only eight times in nine top flight matches and have also been beaten in both Champions League matches so far this term.
A 2-0 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in San Sebastian was the worst possible start and then their hearts were broken in Germany on matchday two when Jens Hegeler scored an injury time winner for Bayer Leverkusen.
It is hard to know what to make of Manchester United this season under David Moyes but the talent remains and surely it is only a matter of time before they click into gear.
The Premier League champions impressed when thrashing Leverkusen 4-1 before playing well in Ukraine to earn a point.
Their domestic form has been hit and miss but there’s no place quite like Old Trafford on a European night and United are tipped to quickly banish the memory of dropped points at home to Southampton on Saturday.
In Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, United have a strike partnership capable of serving it up to the very best and they should be liking their chops at the prospect of getting stuck into the Spaniards.
Were United anywhere near their best then not much bigger than 2/5 would be on offer about a home win and therefore the 3/5 is hard to turn down, despite their troubles.
I’m not willing to write them off just yet and the selection is a strong one.
4pts Back Manchester United (vs. Real Sociedad) @ 3/5 (Bet Victor)