Champions League
2026-09-10 - Manchester United vs Sabah
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League Match Day 1
Thursday 10th September 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Manchester United
In the 2023/24 season, Manchester United played in the Champions League and embarrassingly finished bottom of the Group to exit all European competition before the turn of the calendar year. They have not been beyond the Last 16 of the premier UEFA competition since 2019 and Manchester United missed out on all European competition last year before earning a spot back alongside the elite of the continent.
They are going to face some of the big European teams later in the Champions League, but Manchester United will begin at Old Trafford against the Azerbaijan Champions and they are set as a big favourite. The club are unbeaten in 7 home European ties since their last appearance in the Champions League and Manchester United have won 5 of those matches.
Manchester United will be playing this game just a couple of days before the first Manchester derby of the season, but Michael Carrick will want to see his team bounce back after dropping two points at Everton last Sunday. It means Manchester United have had a really mixed start to the new campaign, although they have beaten Ipswich Town at Old Trafford to make it 9 wins from 10 fixtures played here in all competitions.
A big game is coming up this weekend, but Michael Carrick cannot allow too many inconsistent results to be produced and so a strong team has to be selected. Players like Patrick Dorgu, Andrey Santos and Benjamin Sesko could be used to freshen things up a little bit.
Sabah
The story about the career path used by Valdas Dambrauskas that led him to take Sabah to the Azerbaijan title may eventually be made into a film for everyone to enjoy. It is certainly creating headlines in England ahead of this Champions League tie with Dambrauskas having connections of getting his Coaching career underway in this country, and the current Sabah manager also worked with Manchester United previously.
That may not have been work with the senior team, but Valdas Dambrauskas has not forgotten what Manchester United did for him even as he tries to help Sabah to a huge upset. The 2023/24 season was the first in which Sabah played in any European competition and they deserve a huge amount of praise for coming through four Qualifying ties to earn a shot at the big time in the Champions League.
Sabah have won 10 of the last 12 games played in all competitions and that includes winning 6 of 8 ties played in the Champions League. They have suffered consecutive away defeats in this competition, which has to be a concern considering the levels Sabah are jumping in the League Phase, but this campaign has already been a huge success.
Head to Head
Unsurprisingly, this is the first competitive meeting between the clubs.
Prediction
You have to expect the manager to make some changes, but there will be little excuse for Michael Carrick if Manchester United fail to make a winning return to the Champions League.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United have found little consistency in the Champions League and they have spent almost as many seasons in the Europa League as they have in the top UEFA competition. Manchester United have even found a way to miss out on all European competition twice since Sir Alex retired, but the new format of the League Phase means the expectation is to play Knock Out Football next year.
Winning games like this are key considering the fixtures that are to come, although Manchester United cannot afford to overlook Sabah, even with the Manchester derby coming up.
Sabah have a great story behind them and merely making the League Phase of the Champions League is a massive success.
They have had to negotiate four ties to do that and Sabah have shown real character and determination, which has to be respected.
However, they have lost the last 2 away ties played and this is a big step up for any team playing out of Azerbaijan and the Manchester United record at Old Trafford under Michael Carrick should ensure a relatively comfortable night in the office.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester United 3-0 Sabah
