Tuesday Briefing: To Turkey with determination

The Reds are still hurting from a disappointing 1-0 loss to Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s players are desperate to bounce back in Europe this week. 

Encouragingly, United’s form in the UEFA Champions League this season has been excellent following a couple of impressive victories over Paris Saint-German and RB Leipzig. Three more points against Turkish champions Basaksehir would only strength the grip of top spot in Group H. 

Our opponents on Wednesday evening are bottom of the pool after suffering consecutive 2-0 defeats to our competitors from Germany and France, but Okan Buruk’s team are not to be underestimated. 

Basaksehir won the Turkish title for the first time last season to end the dominance of Istanbul's big three clubs Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. The club also possess a number of Premier League alumni, including former United defender Rafael da Silva, Gael Clichy, Martin Skrtel and Demba Ba.

“They’re a good team,” states Reds captain Harry Maguire, ahead of the trip to Turkey. “We managed to see a bio of the game they played against PSG and they were really good. They were causing them all sorts of problems, so it’s not going to be an easy game going over there. 

“It’s a game that we can’t look too much at our opponents though, we have to make sure we perform like we have done in the Champions League. They went far in the Europa League last year so we expect a tough test, but one where we can travel there and get the three points to stay on top of the group.”

The match in Turkey is United’s second of six in November as the hectic 2020/21 season continues. There will then be another nine games in December, but Maguire admits he doesn’t like to look beyond the next outing.

“I don’t look at the months,” he says. “There are so many games. You play a game, you’ve got to win, you rest and recover and then you focus on the next one and the next one. 

“I couldn’t tell you our fixture list in December or even towards the end of November. The next game, we focus on that, and that’s what we’re doing as a team. It’s going to be a long hard season but one that we want to create memories.”

Remember, Istanbul Basaksehir v United kicks off at the earlier time of 17:55 GMT.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY?

We’ll have images and video from United’s pre-match session at the Aon Training Complex later this morning, which could provide clues about who will feature.

Solskjaer and a member of the squad will hold a press conference from 12:00 GMT and, as ever, you can watch it live via our Official App, ManUtd.com and MUTV.

The Reds will then travel to Turkey in the afternoon, so keep an eye on our club channels for coverage of the squad’s movements. 

Istanbul Basaksehir will train inside their stadium from around 18:45 and their press conference will take place shortly afterwards. 

You may also want to wish Dwight Yorke well on social media, by the way, as he celebrates his 49th birthday.

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY?

Aaron Wan-Bissaka stated his belief we didn’t deserve to be beaten by Arsenal at Old Trafford, but hoped the Reds' second-half spirit will be key to a positive response this week. 

After reporting on the progress of Andreas Pereira's loan spell with Lazio, our attention turned to October’s Goal-of-the-Month award and 11 strikes that are shortlisted. 

Our match preview for the trip to Istanbul is also essential reading, as well as an exclusive catch-up with Marcus Rashford. 

Another episode of our UTD Podcast series was also released around the world, this week starring former United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.