Man Utd to suffer defeat in Sevilla, predicts Charlie Nicholas

Charlie Nicholas provides us with his European predictions as Chelsea and Manchester United look to add to last week’s impressive results for British sides.

Manchester City and Liverpool built commanding leads, winning 4-0 and 5-0 against Basel and Porto respectively, while Tottenham produced a heroic comeback to draw 2-2 at Juventus.

Chelsea face a big ask in matching their compatriots’ Champions League round of 16 first-leg success when they host Barcelona, before Manchester United travel to Sevilla on Wednesday night.

Then, on Thursday evening, Arsenal and Celtic face very differing levels of difficulty in defending their leads in the second legs of their round-of-32 Europa League ties.

Here’s what Charlie is predicting for the six fixtures…

Chelsea v Barcelona (Tuesday, 7.45pm)

For me this is as a good a game as PSG v Real Madrid. There’s a lot of people suspicious of Chelsea but we’ve got five Premier League teams with a genuine opportunity in this competition.

We’ve got two teams basically through, Tottenham are in a great position and two teams with the chance to really prove a point this week.

Is this a game for Eden Hazard to earn a move away? I don’t see Barcelona targeting him, he’s more of a Real Madrid target, or even PSG if Neymar was to go to Real, but there’s no real drama about his future right now.

He will want to put on a display here and Chelsea should fancy themselves to get at Barcelona, but they have improved defensively under Ernesto Valverde, perhaps even better than they were under Pep Guardiola.

Lionel Messi isn’t scoring as many but Luis Suarez has found some form, so if I was Chelsea I’d really have a go at this and I’m expecting plenty of goals.

Charlie predicts: 2-2 and Suarez to score first (40/1 with Sky Bet)

Bayern Munich v Besiktas (Tuesday, 7.45pm)

Besiktas were a bit of a surprise to us all, proving to be very strong and comfortable in topping their group.

I still think the big teams step up when required and even though Bayern seem to be conceding a few early goals, they don’t panic when they go behind.

They may not be one of the favourites this season but they’ve got plenty of quality attacking players in Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller and I see them progressing comfortably here.

Charlie predicts: 3-0 and Lewandowski to score first (10/1 with Sky Bet)

Sevilla v Manchester United (Wednesday, 7.45pm)

I see everybody is panicking about injuries at Manchester United. Did Jose Mourinho not say everyone should stop complaining about injuries? So, I was chuckling when he reeled off his list in his press conference.

Will he bring Paul Pogba back in? Yes, get him back in there.

He loves delivering in the spotlight with his hairstyles and flicks. He doesn’t do it near enough and Jose does not appreciate that side of a player’s game, but the player Sevilla will be worried about most is Paul Pogba.

I said at the time Alexis Sanchez came in ‘What disruptions will this cause?’. Marcus Rashford has been bombed out, Anthony Martial has been switched to the right and stopped scoring and Pogba has fallen out of the team.

The positive for United is Sevilla are a bag of Revels. They’re fifth in La Liga but their goal difference is negative so that tells you everything about their defence, but they can hurt you on their day in the hostile Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Charlie predicts: 2-1 and Nolito to score first (60/1 with Sky Bet)

Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma (Wednesday, 7.45pm)

I’ve actually been watching quite a bit of Roma this season and think they’re vastly improved. They threatened to get involved in the title race yet have dropped off in December and January.

I like a lot of what they’re doing now they’ve eased Francesco Totti out. I said at the time all the top English sides should have been in for Edin Dzeko when he appeared to be available in January. He’s not got the pace everyone seems to demand but he’s a fantastic finisher and he enjoys the big stages.

Charlie predicts: 1-1 and Dzeko to score first (25/1 with Sky Bet)

Zenit St Petersburg (0) v (1) Celtic (Thursday, 6pm)

I have to admit Celtic’s defensive structure – which had been all over the place – looked excellent last week to go against my prediction that they’d lose the first leg.

Plenty of my friends point out that Zenit haven’t played in months but more importantly Celtic showed they do have Plan B in European games when they know they’re not going to dominate the ball.

People might think us Scots are okay with the weather over there, but the conditions are a different level of cold and I’m afraid I’m going for a tough night for the travellers and another Celtic defeat.

Charlie predicts: 3-1 and Branislav Ivanovic to score first (160/1 with Sky Bet)

Arsenal (3) v (0) Ostersunds (Thursday, 8.05pm)

I think Arsene Wenger will have to play two or three regulars and then it will be the kids for a stroll in the park, having won the first leg comfortably.

He won’t want to play anyone who is going to play in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday but he might be forced to have a couple of bigger hitters on the bench.

I like the look of the young lad Eddie Nketiah in the Carabao Cup but he hasn’t had a sniff in the Premier League because the first team go through hardships. It’s like the young lads get punished for the senior players’ failures.

I’d expect to see Danny Welbeck through the middle, Ainsley Maitland-Niles in his proper position and then Alex Iwobi maybe the only one who will threaten to start on Sunday. The kids will try to put on a show and they should have enough to win comfortably.

Charlie predicts: 2-0 and Nketiah to score first (14/1 with Sky Bet)

(c) Sky News 2018: Man Utd to suffer defeat in Sevilla, predicts Charlie Nicholas