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Manchester United host Azerbaijani side Sabah FK at Old Trafford in their UEFA Champions League opener on Thursday evening. United finished third in the Premier League last season, securing automatic qualification for Europe’s elite club competition. Sabah, meanwhile, won the Azerbaijan Premier League to secure their place in the qualifiers. They beat TNS, KuPS, Aarhus and Hapoel Be’er Sheva to qualify for the competition for the first time in the club’s history. As a result, this is the first-ever meeting between the Owls and the Mancunian giants. Man United have not enjoyed an impressive start to the season, collecting four points from their opening three Premier League games. The Red Devils were seconds away from victory at Everton on Sunday before Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ brilliant strike rescued a draw for the Toffees. Manager Michael Carrick will now be hoping for a positive response against Sabah. United are expected to dominate possession. They need to move the ball quickly and exploit the spaces left behind by Sabah’s adventurous full-backs. The hosts need to keep the ball well, with Sabah very dangerous in transition, with the pace of forwards Veljko Simic and Joy-Lance Mickels. Carrick could make three changes to the side that started against Everton. Noussair Mazraoui, Andrey Santos and Benjamin Sesko may replace Diogo Dalot, Youri Tielemans and Marcus Rashford, respectively. Sabah are likely to adopt a 4-2-3-1 compact shape. They will look to hurt United in transition, using the pace of their forwards and the width from their full-backs. Man United must avoid an upset against the Azerbaijani champions if they are to go into Sunday’s Manchester derby with positive momentum.