Europa League early kick-offs: Manchester United pitch winning credentials in Russia as FC Rostov await

AVAILABLE: Manchester United's Ibrahimovic can play despite ban

 By Steven Oldham

Manchester United's away clash at Russian Premier League runners-up FC Rostov leads the early kick-offs in tonight's Europa League round of 16 first leg games. 

Jose Mourinho's side will look to return to winning ways after Saturday's fiery draw with Bournemouth at Old Trafford, which saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic pick up a retrospective three-match ban after accepting violent conduct charges for his clashes with Tyrone Mings.

The state of Rostov's threadbare pitch is a more pressing concern for United with Mourinho critical of the playing surface- described by UEFA as 'not perfect, but playable'.

He said: "It's hard for me to believe we are going to play on that field - if you can call it a field. I don't know which team to play." 

United will definitely be without Eric Bailly with the Frenchman suspended after a red card in the last round against Saint-Etienne, while Wayne Rooney and Luke Shaw have not made the trip. 

The returning Henrikh Mkhitaryan may now not be risked due to the pitch conditions. The Armeninan midfielder has been missing with a hamstring injury in recent fixtures. 

United should still have enough to overcome Rostov but need to be wary of complacency against a team that handed Bayern Munich a shock 3-2 defeat in the Champion's League group stages. 

The Russians performed solidly in their debut Champion's League campaign, picking up five points, finishing above seasoned European campaigners PSV Eindhoven to secure a place in this competition. They knocked Sparta Prague out 5-1 on aggregate in the previous round, winning the home leg 4-0. 

BARE: The under-fire pitch at Rostov's Olimp-2 stadium

FC COPENHAGEN vs AJAX

Reigning national champions FC Copenhagen head into this fixture on the back of an unbeaten season so far in the Danish Superliga, twelve points clear of nearest challengers Brondby ahead of the league split next month. A crushing 5-0 defeat of Horsens at the weekend extended this run to 24 games. 

The Danes narrowly missed out on qualification for the last 16 of the Champion's League and were unbeaten at home in the group stage without conceding a goal.  They eliminated Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the last round.

Ajax, meanwhile, are on a nine-match unbeaten run of their own in the Eredivisie, but their momentum suffered a slight blow at the weekend, only drawing 1-1 with mid-table Groningen. 

After comfortably winning their group ahead of fellow round of 16 qualifiers Celta Vigo, the Dutch team narrowly came through the last round, defeating Legia Warsaw 1-0 on aggregate thanks to Nick Viergever's home goal in the second leg. Defenders Joel Veltman and Davinson Sanchez both miss out through suspension. 
 

SUSPENDED: Ajax defender Joel Veltman is banned for the first leg

  APOEL NICOSIA vs ANDERLECHT 

Cypriot champions APOEL continue to punch above their weight in European competition, knocking out Spanish giants Athletic Bilbao in the previous round 4-3 on aggregate.

An impressive all-round performance saw them narrowly lose the first leg 3-2 before turning their opponents over at home, with Giannis Gianniotas scoring in both fixtures including the decisive penalty that took them through.

A morale-boosting 2-0 victory over Omonia in the Nicosia derby at the weekend will leave head coach Thomas Christiansen quietly confident ahead of this evening's game. 

Anderlecht, meanwhile, failed to live up to top billing in their group, finishing as runners-up to Saint-Etienne, but recovered to eliminate Zenit St Petersburg in the last round (albeit on away goals).

Domestically, they are joint top with Club Brugge but lost their most recent fixture 3-2 at Mechelen - their first league defeat since November. 

Anderlecht have no fewer than seven players one yellow card away from missing the return leg, so the likes of top scorer Youri Tielemans and double goalscorer from the Zenit victory Frank Acheampong need to be careful tonight.

IN FORM: Anderlecht's top scorer Youri Tielemans

Tennis: Three seeds with tough opening matches at Wimbledon

By Steven Oldham

The first round of Wimbledon always throws up surprises with seeded players being knocked out by relative unknowns and those lower in the rankings.

Whether rising stars or seasoned pros dropping down the rankings, the courts of SW19 are often a great leveller for the unseeded players.

This year's draw has revealed some interesting first round ties and some seeds have been handed far more difficult ties than they would like. I've picked three who would probably have liked an easier start to the tournament than they are likely to get.

Gentlemen's Singles:

Marcel Granollers (30) vs Nicolas Mahut

Doubles specialist Marcel Granollers could be in danger of an early exit after being drawn against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. The two men have never played head to head before so there is no past form to go on, but the Spaniard's past form at Wimbledon is poor. In seven attempts, he has only been past the opening round twice - and on both of those occasions he was eliminated in the second round. His best results consistently come on clay, whereas Mahut's favoured surface is grass.  He is already part of Wimbledon folklore for his role in the longest match in history with John Isner in 2010.  He comes into the tournament in relatively poor form, having been knocked out in several tournaments by lower ranked players, but he has the grass court technique and smarts to unsettle Granollers and make the next round.

Marathon man Nicolas Mahut (@WilsonTennis)

Andreas Seppi (25) vs Leonardo Mayer

Argentina's Leonardo Mayer is in danger of being one of the forgotten players of his generation having shown much promise early in his career. He has yet to better his achievements from 2010 in any of the Grand Slams, with his best performance coming in the US Open where he reached the third round. This year however he has been unlucky, with matches against members of the 'big four' in the two Grand Slams - Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal knocked him out of the Australian and French Opens respectively. All three of his matches againt Seppi have been losing efforts on clay, but the Italian hasn't been in great form, with surprise losses against the likes of Michael Llodra, Donald Young and Denis Istomin since the turn of the year. He should have too much for Mayer, but it wouldn't be the first time he has fallen to supposed lesser opposition.

Can Andreas Seppi tough it out over Leo Mayer? (@WeAreTennis)

Ladies' singles:

Sloane Stephens (19) vs Maria Kirilenko

Russia's Maria Kirilenko continues her long comeback from a knee injury against Sloane Stephens in the first round at Wimbledon. She will be hoping for an improvement on last year, where she was eliminated in the first round by Laura Robson, a match which saw her lose her top ten ranking. It was the beginning of a rapid slide down the listings for Kirilenko, whose injury problems destroyed the latter half of last year and caused her to miss the Australian Open. She had shown much promise in the first half of 2013, recording victories over top tier players including Sabine Lisicki and Petra Kvitova on her way to the top ten for the first time. She has the talent to beat Stephens, but if her troublesome knee will allow her to do so is another matter. The American - six years Kirilenko's junior - has won the only previous meeting between the two. She made the quarter finals last year before losing to eventual winner Marion Bartoli but arguably did not come up against an opponent of Kirilenko's quality in the four rounds before that game.



Can Maria Kirilenko upset Sloane Stephens? (@WTA)