The resident Manchester United supporting punters here inside the Football Transfer Tavern are still in jubilant mood, after the club downed Antonio Conte’s Chelsea 2-0 at Old Trafford on the weekend.

It was a fantastic performance from the Red Devils and a managerial masterclass from Jose Mourinho, who’s clever use of personnel, well and truly stifled the west London outfit.

Of course, fixtures come think and fast for Manchester United, with the club back in action in the Europa League on Thursday, as they face Belgian side Anderlecht in the quarter final second leg.

It finished 1-1 in the first leg in Anderlecht, with an 86th minute Dendoncker goal making it 1-1 after Mkhitaryan opened the scoring in the 36th minute.

Our landlord predicts Mourinho will go all out to ensure victory on Thursday, as winning the Europa League is undoubtedly United’s best avenue in which to get Champions League football back at Old Trafford next season.

As ever, our landlord has consulted the regular Man Utd punters in the Tavern and has created the XI that Mourinho must field on Thursday to see off Anderlecht….

GK: Sergio Romero

The Argentine keeper has done really well during this Europa League campaign, and looks a safe pair of hands between the sticks.

Romero has pulled off a number of key saves in a number of matches this season in this competition, and our landlord thinks Romero will be given another start on Thursday evening.

RB: Antonio Valencia

Ecuadorian ace Antonio Valencia has found a new lease of life as a full-back for Manchester United this season, which is beneficial to the former Wigan man as he has very little chance of forcing himself into United’s set-up further forward.

At 31, Valencia is seen to be enjoying a fantastic campaign, with Red Devils legend Ryan Giggs recently going as far as saying it’s his best season at Old Trafford, and his experience will be vital alongside a very young United back-line.

CB: Eric Bailly

The summer signing who didn’t occupy as many back pages as the rest of Manchester United’s recruits, Eric Bailly has stood out as arguably the best piece of business from Jose Mourinho and the Ivorian will have the defence built around him in the coming years.

23-year-old Bailly has been a mainstay of Manchester United’s defence this season, helping the Red Devils to boast one of the best defensive records in the Premier League, but he needs to remain calm this weekend- as he was sent off in a previous round against St Etienne.

CB: Marcos Rojo

Purchased by Louis Van Gaal after the 2014 World Cup, Argentine defender Marcos Rojo has only just started to find his feet at Manchester United and he’s given himself a chance of securing his long-term future at Old Trafford. That said, there’s still work to do.

During the past two months, the versatile defender has become first-choice for Jose Mourinho’s defence alongside Eric Bailly and the duo have impressed, keeping three clean sheets across the last five games in all competitions.

LB: Luke Shaw

Having spent the last month or so occupying the back pages for the wrong reasons, although it was mostly Jose Mourinho’s during and not anything to do with the young defender’s actions himself, Luke Shaw has fought back and let his football do the talking.

Having starred off the bench in the draw against Everton, Shaw excelled in the victory over Sunderland, securing an assist, but missed out in the victory over Chelsea as Mourinho made a host of changes. The Portuguese boss reportedly did that with Thursday night’s game in mind though, so expect Shaw to return to the line-up.

CDM: Ander Herrera

Ander was the man of the match against Chelsea last time out in the Premier League for United and so will be obviously looking to build on that in this one.

He won’t have to be as defensively disciplined as he was against the Blues at the weekend and so he should be able to get forward a bit more and influence the game.

CDM: Michael Carrick

Carrick has been reliable when called upon this season and should start with the idea that he can use his vast experience to help United progress to the next round.

The Red Devils just need to control this match and in playing the former Spurs midfielder in the centre of the park, they will surely be ensuring they do just that.

RAM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Seemingly dropped at the weekend as punishment for Manchester United’s failure to kill off the first leg, we expect Jose Mourinho to give Henrikh Mkhitaryan the chance to redeem himself when Anderlecht come to town on Thursday night.

It’s not always been stellar stuff from the Armenian international during his first season at Old Trafford but his natural talent and the effectiveness of his scintillating pace has becoming increasingly evident throughout the campaign – he now boasts five goals in his last nine appearances.

CAM: Paul Pogba

Pogba was decent against Chelsea and now needs to make his mark in a game like this to really start proving himself.

If the French international can help fire United to this competition then people will begin to get off of his back. It is, right now, a huge if, though.

LAM: Jesse Lingard

Jesse Lingard may divide opinion but there’s a reason Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have both turned to him for big games throughout their United tenures. The versatile midfielder can play in a variety of roles, works hard and has a knack of hitting the net on big occasions – scoring in United’s last three cup finals.

After impressing against Chelsea on Sunday as the support act to Marcus Rashford up front, we’re tipping Lingard to get the nod once again but this time on the left, where he’ll naturally come across opportunities to cut inside and shoot.

ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Who else but Zlatan? The Swedish enigma was rested on Sunday seemingly with this game in mind and although replacement Marcus Rashford played a huge hand in a 2-0 victory over the Blues, Jose Mourinho seems unlikely to change United’s usual game-plan purely based on one result.

Ibrahimovic has been nothing short of fantastic during his first season at Old Trafford and has consistently produced the goods in Europe this season, netting five times whilst laying on three assists for his team-mates.