United’s fixtures after Europa League games

Manchester United’s schedule for the 2019/20 season is starting to take shape now the Premier League fixtures have been announced.

Amid all the sub-plots and stories to emerge from fixtures-release day, one facet which always intrigues supporters is whom the Reds will face in the league immediately after our European games.

United will play on Thursday nights as we enter the Europa League in the group stage, which commences on 19 September. We will learn our three opponents when the draw is made in Monaco on 30 August.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have avoided facing any of last season’s fellow top-six clubs immediately after matches in the group phase during the autumn, with an even split of three home games and three clashes on the road too.

SO WHO DO WE FACE?

After our first Europa League group game, the Reds will travel to the London Stadium to face West Ham United on the weekend commencing 21 September.

Following matchday two, there’s another away trip for us as we take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park on the weekend of 5/6 October.

Our visit to Carrow Road to play newly promoted Norwich City will follow the third group game on Thursday 24 October.

After matchday four in the Europa League, we will welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Old Trafford on the weekend commencing 9 November, prior to the international break.

Our penultimate game in the group phase on 28 November precedes a home match against play-off victors Aston Villa, while the visit of Everton follows our final group match on Thursday 12 December.

WHAT ABOUT THE KNOCKOUT STAGES?
Of course, the Reds will be aiming to go all the way in the Europa League, like we did in 2017, with the final set to be played on 27 May 2020 in Gdansk, Poland.

Should Solskjaer’s side reach the showpiece occasion, we will play four home and away games in the league following knockout matches in the competition.

United will host Watford after the first leg of the round-of-32 tie on 20 February 2020, with a trip to Everton following the second leg a week later.

If we progress, our round-of-16 tie will be played on 12 and 19 March, with a first visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face Spurs following the first leg, and a home clash against newly promoted Sheffield United after the second leg.

A home game against Bournemouth and an away match at Aston Villa respectively, will follow the first and second legs of a potential quarter-final tie, which would be played on Thursday 9 and 16 April.

Should we advance to the semi-finals, a trip to Crystal Palace would come after the first leg is played on 30 April and our final home league match of the season, against West Ham United, would follow the second leg on 7 May.

If we were to reach the final, the game would be played 10 days after our last league fixture of 2019/20 – away at Leicester City on 17 May – and four days after the Emirates FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on 23 May.