Manchester United vs Sabah LIVE: Champions League match stream, latest team news, lineups, TV, prediction

Champions League nights are back at Old TraffordGettyMan United mark their return to the Champions League at Old Trafford tonight. After a season without European football and a Europa League campaign the year prior, this will be United's first experience of the competition in its new format and they have been handed a rather straightforward assignment in their opening game of the league phase.It has been a mixed start to the season for Michael Carrick’s side, picking up four points from a possible nine in the Premier League and they could have one eye on Sunday's huge Manchester derby with rotation likely. Marcus Rashford looks to have recovered from a knock that forced him off in the 2-2 draw against Everton, while Luke Shaw is expected to be fit despite his absence from training earlier in the week.Sabah, meanwhile, are making their Champions League debut. The Azerbaijan club's journey began in the first qualifying round back in July and now they will hope to cause one of the biggest shocks in European football history. Follow Manchester United vs Sabah LIVE below with Standard Sport's dedicated match blog.Man United vs Sabah latest newsWho is the Sabah manager?Valdas Dambrauskas is in charge of the Azerbaijani club, who were founded just nine years ago.They were crowned national champions last season, and have come through four qualifying rounds to reach the league phase of the Champions League.While most football managers have a previous playing career to rely on, Dambrauskas bucks that trend.Instead, his first public appearance came in 2002., on the Lithaunian version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ in the noughties, while he was studying engineering.He won 4000 litas (equivalent to £730 at the time), which he used to move to England and complete his football coaching badges.He went on to work in the youth setups at Fulham and Brentford - and ironically, United’s popular Soccer School - having studied sports science and coaching at London Metropolitan University.GettyMan United out to complete clean sweepIt has been a great week for Premier League sides in Europe this week.Man City and Aston Villa both won their games on Tuesday, followed by Arsenal's win over Napoli and Liverpool coming from behind to beat Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.Can Man United complete the clean sweep tonight?GettyGettyGettyGettyPredicted Sabah XIPredicted Sabah XI: Pokatilov; Solvet, Dashdamirov, Puchacz, Zedadka; Rakhmonaliev, Isaev, Lepinjica, Parris; Mickels, SimicVeljko SimicGettyPredicted Manchester United XILuke Shaw is the major doubt, as Michael Carrick indicated in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday that the left-back was being managed following the recent 2-2 draw at Everton.Shaw provided the assist for Benjamin Sesko’s goal at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and the latter could be in contention to start here, with Carrick revealing that the Slovenian was almost at full fitness after his comeback from a shin niggle that curtailed his end to last season.Amad Diallo looks to be out until October with an ankle problem, while new signing Carlos Baleba is in a similar boat after his arrival from Brighton. As such, United’s lineup for this match could be quite easy to predict.Predicted Man Utd XI (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui; Mainoo, Tielemans; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Rashford; Cunha.ES CompositeWho are Sabah?Sabah FK did not exist a decade ago, and tonight they take on Manchester United in the Champions League.Formed in 2017, the champions of Azerbaijan are set to become the youngest side in history to play in Europe’s top continental competition, with Old Trafford the scene of their bow.Very much exploring new surroundings, Sabah - who play out of the 9,000-seater Bank Respublika Arena in Mazasir - become just the second Azerbaijani side ever to qualify for the Champions League, following Qarabag’s recent exploits.GettyToday's settingsOld Trafford stages a league phase fixture in the Champions League for the very first time.United's last game here in this competition was a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich in December 2023.GettyManchester United vs Sabah latest match oddsManchester United to win: 1/12Odds via betting sites (subject to change).Head to head (h2h) history and resultsThis will be the first-ever meeting between Manchester United and Sabah.Score predictionMan United couldn't have asked for a more favourable return to Champions League action.An early goal would really set the tone and make it a long night for Sabah.Manchester United to win, 5-0.Sabah team newsKhayal Aliyev is the only confirmed absentee for the visitors.The Azerbaijan international underwent an operation in June on a serious hamstring injury, and has not featured since.Getty