Man United running stats in Europa League are staggering, Ruben Amorim will be wowed by Lyon comparison

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Everyone associated with Manchester United knows that the season hinges on the Europa League clash against Lyon.

After a 2-2 draw against Lyon in France last week, everything is to play for at Old Trafford on Thursday night.

There is huge pressure on Ruben Amorim to win the Europa League as it would give Manchester United a golden ticket to qualify for the Champions League.

Not only would Champions League qualification provide a huge financial boost to a club who was at risk of going bust this year, but it will also help Amorim and Ineos attract better players in the summer.

Amorim warned that the Lyon clash will be physical, which is something that United have particularly struggled to cope with in the Premier League.

Man United running stats vs Lyon in Europa League

After losing to Newcastle United on the weekend, Roy Keane slammed United’s running stats.

“There aren’t enough players that can run in the team and that want to run,” Keane said.

It is also something that Amorim addressed as soon as he arrived at Carrington back in November, saying United ‘must run like mad dogs’ if they ever want to win the Premier League.

Well, a glance at United’s Europa League stats suggest that message is getting across to the players. According to Uefa, United have covered 760km in the Europa League this season, an average of 68.7km per game.

In contrast, Uefa report that Lyon have only covered 545km in their Europa League matches, an average of just 49km per game.

Man United team news vs Lyon

Against Newcastle United in the Premier League, Amorim made five changes to the side that drew to Lyon, with several players given a much-needed rest.

Andre Onana was dropped from the squad to help him mentally recover from his two mistakes against Lyon in the first leg. He will return to the starting lineup on Thursday evening.

Harry Maguire and Casemiro remained on the bench at St James’ Park having both started against Lyon a few days prior. Harry Amass was given his first Premier League start to allow Patrick Dorgu some rest.

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In terms of injury returns, Matthijs de Ligt is back in the squad but the second leg has come too soon for Ayden Heaven. Joshua Zirkzee has suffered a hamstring injury which will rule him out for the remainder of the season.

With the season on the line against Lyon, Amorim has no choice but to pick his strongest XI and hope to secure a spot in the Europa League semi-finals.