GARY NEVILLE and other top pundits have shared their predictions for the Europa League final.
Manchester United and Tottenham do battle in Bilbao with the Red Devils the bookies’ favourites to win.
PAGary Neville has shared his thoughts ahead of the Europa League final[/caption]
GettyRoy Keane has backed one team to win for a key reason[/caption]
PAGary Lineker and Alan Shearer are both expecting plenty of goals[/caption]
Thousands of fans have descended on the city centre including pundits and club legends, who have shared their thoughts ahead of kick-off.
The likes of Neville, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes have been critical of their former side for the majority of the season, though Spurs have also been slated after losing 21 league games this term.
Here is what pundits have had to say ahead of the final.
Gary Neville
Neville has tipped the Red Devils to bring the trophy back to Manchester.
He said: “I think United will win on Wednesday night.
“Winning the Europa League would be the silver lining around a very dark cloud. To win a trophy should never be disrespected.
“It would be a brilliant achievement to win three trophies in three years in an era when United have been really poor. But to be where they are in the league is incredible. I think United will win.
“I think they’ve players in there that will feel that occasion. Bruno [Fernandes], Casemiro – want it, need it in their lives. I agree with the belief. I do feel confident in United just getting through this game.”
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Roy Keane
Keane echoed Neville’s thoughts, suggesting United’s pedigree should see them over the line.
The pundit said: “You still have to fancy United, someone like Bruno can produce, the history of Manchester United still carries a little bit of weight.
“There’s not much between them [in the league] but come the crunch, come the final, United’s history in finals, them winning cups the last few years, you’d like to think they would have a bit more knowledge around the game than Spurs.
“That might edge it for them, and I think Bruno can produce that bit of magic.”
Alan Shearer
Shearer is more optimistic about Spurs’ chances despite labelling Ange Postecoglou‘s side “rancid” and “rotten”.
The legendary striker added: “My prediction is going to be 2-2 or 3-3 after extra-time and Spurs to win on penalties.”
Gary Lineker
Former Tottenham star Lineker agreed with his colleague Shearer that there will be goals.
However he found it difficult to predict a winner.
In response to Shearer’s comment, he replied: “Oh, he’s gone full on there, sounds like a World Cup final. I’m going to have to go for Spurs, I couldn’t not.”
Shearer responded: “After 90 minutes?”
Lineker said: “Well, I’ve got this feeling that it’s the teams that have not won for ages this year.
“And I think they’re going to, I don’t know about 90 minutes or, I think it could easily go to extra-time.”
Micah Richards
The final member of the Rest is Football podcast, Richards, has offered a different view to Shearer and Lineker.
He tipped a 1-0 United win, adding: “I think a lot of people have laughed off Casemiro or laughed at him for a while now.
“But I think in these competitions, sometimes it goes down to set pieces. So I’m going to say Bruno [Fernandes] assist for a Casemiro goal, one-nil.”
Jamie Carragher
Carragher is another who can’t look past United’s stature and their knack of winning trophies – even in recent years as performances have dipped.
He said on Sky Sports: “I think United will win. Spurs have injury problems as they have had all season.
“I just think United have an ability to still win games. They beat Man City in the FA Cup final last season. The club have still got that feeling, the supporters going there.
“I think the United supporters will be going there expecting something.
“I think if Tottenham went in front United could still win, but if United go in front I couldn’t see where Tottenham will find something to go and win the game.”
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Paul Scholes
Another United legend who backs his former side to get over the line, Scholes points out Spurs’ weakness with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski absent through injury.
“There are players like Fernandes, Amad, Garnacho, Son, Solanke and Johnson who are capable of match-winning moments.
“It is more likely that a mistake rather than a bit of quality will decide the game, but with these two teams, anything can happen.
“I think without Maddison and Kulusevski, Spurs are forced to be more defensive. Those two are the best players and make the team tick and play good football.
“They both played a part and scored in Spurs’ three wins over United this season. They make a huge difference to this Spurs team and without them, they are massively weaker.
“It’s so hard to call this game. I think with Spurs missing those two key players and United having more experience in finals and winning trophies, I just favour United to get over the line.”
Rio Ferdinand
Ferdinand shared concerns over United’s physicality, arguing it has been a problem in the Prem this campaign.
He suggests it would be foolish to write off Tottenham, saying: “I have to be honest, I can’t call a Man United result.
“They’re so inconsistent or they have consistently been bad in the Premier League. But the fact that they are playing against Spurs, another consistently bad team in the Premier League. But they have players who can win a match. It makes it such a hard game to call.
“I don’t think the fans can be too surprised (if Spurs win).
“They beat us three times already this season, so it’s not going to be a surprise if they beat us a fourth time. I think it’s only going to be stupid people that are going, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe this’.”
Joe Cole
Former England star has appeared as a pundit covering the Europa League for several years so knows a thing or two about European competition.
He said ahead of the final: “I always like both teams to score when Tottenham are playing so I’ll be going with that again here. Can you bet on both teams to lose? No? Are we sure? How do we go about this game?
“I’m happy to go either way, but I’m going to put my neck on the line and go for Spurs in the 90 minutes – only because I’ve got some mates travelling all around the world in 80 days to get there so I want Spurs to win for them!”
Teddy Sheringham
United legend Sheringham is expecting it to rain goals in Bilbao because he has no faith in the defences of either side.
He declared: “I could see there being a lot of goals in the game, because neither team can defend, and neither of them want to play defensively. I see a very high-scoring, open game. I’m going to predict a 4-3 win, but I don’t know which team will edge it.
“I think either way, it’s going to be goals galore and it will be end-to-end stuff. If I was looking at this from United’s point of view, then I would be looking at the weaknesses in the Tottenham defence, but as I said, United’s back four is hardly a tight ship.
“If it goes to penalties. I think the pressure will be massively on Manchester United. A shootout could really affect them mentally, with all the implications of the result.”
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