Ex-Manchester United striker Michael Owen is expecting his former club to narrowly beat Villarreal in the Europa League final tomorrow night.

The Red Devils will be coming up against an experienced manager in the opposition dugout, Unai Emery, who has won the competition on three separate occasions, but Owen feels Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will pick off their opponents:

“I think United will be happy to give up some territory to the Spaniards in the hope they can utilise their counter-attack that has been such a potent weapon for them throughout the season.”

“There’s no doubt Villarreal will be wary of that, and although I think the Yellow Submarine have enough to get on the score-sheet, I reckon it’ll be United that will be collecting the winner’s medals come full-time.”

Owen has gone for a 2-1 victory to United, which seems a reasonable prediction. Villarreal have not lost any match in this year’s competition so they will be no pushovers, but you would expect that Solskjaer’s men will have the extra quality to edge a tight encounter.

You also have to consider the fact that, unlike United who rested their entire first team at the weekend, Villarreal had an energy-sapping game against Real Madrid on Saturday evening, where they conceded two late goals to lose 2-1. That will almost certainly have an effect on proceedings as well.