Martial Eyes Saint-Etienne Goal

Anthony Martial is looking forward to Manchester United’s Europa League tie against AS Saint-Etienne, the club he has previously scored against while playing in France.

The Reds will host the Greens in the first leg of the last-32 encounter at Old Trafford on Thursday night, before visiting Martial’s homeland for the decider six days later on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old began his career at Oympique Lyon, who are Saint-Etienne’s great rivals, and he later scored a superb volley on his last appearance against them while playing for Monaco in April 2015.

Fresh from his Man of the Match display against Watford on Saturday, Martial is looking forward to the next match. "There was a huge rivalry while I was still at Lyon – it was always a highly-charged atmosphere and they were usually massive games, the kind all players love to play in," he told us.

"So there will be that added competitive edge whenever I play against them. We know it will be a difficult match but if we play with all our quality, I think we can do good things. 

"Of course, it would be great if I could score against them again, but I hope we can win the game because that’s the most important thing, then it would be a bonus if I managed to grab a goal."

Thursday’s clash will pit Martial’s compatriot Paul Pogba against his brother Florentin and, while there may be banter between the siblings leading up to the game, it will be put to one side come kick-off.

"They are well known for being big jokers and mickey-takers but, once they are on the field, it will be like two warriors who are going all out to win the game," said Martial. "If one beats the other, he’ll immediately start giving out loads of stick so they’ll be desperate to do all they can to win!"

United plan to earn a first-leg advantage ahead of next Wednesday's outing at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, a 42,000-capacity ground where Martial is expecting a vociferous atmosphere.

"They have a tremendous following and I’m sure it will be lively, even more so as they’re not used to playing against big clubs like United," our no.11 added.

"There’s always a great atmosphere there even against the smaller teams, so I can’t imagine what it will be like against us. It will be up to us to put it out of our minds."