Como vs Manchester United: Preview, team news, h2h, lineups, as Fabregas eyes new achievement

Manchester United head to Lake Como on Wednesday without a win in six games, and Michael Carrick must find a way to end that run against a Como side in their first Champions League campaign.

Kickoff at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia is 5:45pm Nigerian time on October 21, with both teams on three points after one win and one defeat each.

Como have the momentum after a 3-1 win against Fiorentina on Sunday, while United are coming off a 1-1 draw in Leeds that left them 13th in the Premier League.

Como vs Manchester United Match Radar

⚽ Como vs Manchester United
Competition	UEFA Champions League, league phase, Matchday 3
Kickoff	Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 5:45pm WAT
Venue	Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Como
Manchester United are winless in six games in all competitions, while Como are fifth in Serie A.

Como vs Manchester United form and context

Manchester United’s winless run includes a 3-2 home defeat to Brighton, 1-1 draws with Fulham, Tottenham and Leeds, and a 2-0 defeat in Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

Those results have brought seven points from seven Premier League games, made up of one win, four draws and two defeats.

In their last five games United have scored five goals and conceded eight, with no clean sheet in that run.

Their Champions League campaign began with a 4-0 home win over Sabah, before Leny Yoro was sent off in the defeat in Madrid. Bruno Fernandes is United’s top scorer in the competition with one goal, which shows how evenly the Sabah goals were shared.

Como’s win over Fiorentina came through goals from Mattia Liberali, Nico Paz and Anastasios Douvikas, and it left them fifth in Serie A with 14 points.

Their Serie A record of four wins, two draws and one defeat comes with 12 goals scored and seven conceded.

The same five-game spell also contains a 0-0 draw with Roma and a 2-0 defeat in Frosinone, so goals have not arrived every week.

In Europe, Como beat RB Leipzig 4-1 at home before losing 3-2 in Rotterdam, where Douvikas scored in stoppage time after Assane Diao had put them ahead.

Douvikas, the Greece striker, has scored once in each of Como’s two Champions League games, which hands United’s reshuffled defence a specific problem.

Como vs Manchester United head-to-head

There is no record to analyse, because this is the first meeting between the two clubs in any competition.

The better comparison is European output so far, with Como scoring six and conceding four across two games while United have scored four and conceded two. If coach Cesc Fabregas can lead his side to victory here, it will be a big achievement and another signal of Como’s continued rise in European football.

Como vs Manchester United team news and predicted XI

Como	Manchester United
Diao: hamstring injury Chalobah: injured, around two weeks Kean: muscle injury	Yoro: suspended Dorgu: hamstring injury Sesko: shin injury Ugarte: cruciate ligament injury Martinez: doubt, thigh problem Shaw: doubt, knock Mainoo: doubt, knock

Yoro serves a one-match UEFA suspension, and Lisandro Martinez is a doubt after leaving the Leeds game at half time with a thigh problem.

Ayden Heaven was dropped for that game, so Harry Maguire’s partner is the least certain place in Carrick’s side, with Matthijs de Ligt available but without a start since November 2025.

Noussair Mazraoui is expected back on the right side of defence, with Diogo Dalot at left-back, because Shaw missed the Leeds game and Dorgu is out.

BREAKING: Manchester United had several players missing from training this morning including Marcus Rashford, Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw 🚨 https://t.co/MKtuqm8tNj

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 20, 2026

Patrick Dorgu and Benjamin Sesko are out, Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo are doubts, and Manuel Ugarte remains sidelined with a cruciate ligament injury.

Como are without Diao, Trevoh Chalobah and Moise Kean, with Chalobah expected to miss around two weeks after going off injured in Florence.

Jean Butez is expected to keep goal after Robert Sanchez played in Rotterdam, where a deflection off his back produced Feyenoord’s third goal.

Maximo Perrone, Martin Baturina and Yan Couto did not start in Florence and are expected to return, with Luis Milla, Maxence Caqueret and Ivan Smolcic making way.

Star Player Comparison: Douvikas vs Fernandes

Anastasios Douvikas Centre-forward · Como	Stat	Bruno Fernandes Attacking midfielder · Manchester United
2	Champions League goals	1
2	Champions League games	2

Douvikas has scored in both of Como’s Champions League games, while Fernandes, the United captain, has one goal from the same number of appearances.

The Managers: Fabregas and Carrick

Cesc Fabregas joined Como as a player in August 2022, retired in 2023, moved into coaching and led the club to Serie A promotion in 2023/24.

Carrick took charge of United on an interim basis in January after Ruben Amorim was sacked, lifted the club from seventh to third and was made permanent on May 22 on a contract to 2028.

Como vs Manchester United tactical preview

Both sides are expected to use a 4-2-3-1, so Como’s pivot of Perrone and Lucas Da Cunha must handle Youri Tielemans and Fernandes arriving from the attacking midfield line.

The United centre-back pairing is the pressure point, because Douvikas has scored in each of Como’s last two games and faces a defence reshuffled by suspension and injury.

Liberali and Paz scored three minutes apart in Florence, which shows that Como’s threat does not depend only on the striker.

United’s route back runs through Bryan Mbeumo, who gave them the lead in Leeds from a Tielemans pass, against a Como back line without Chalobah.

Como also need to defend set pieces better than United did in Leeds, where Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalised from a corner.

Both of Como’s European games have produced five goals, and with one reshuffled defence on each side a third open game looks likely.

The Naija Slip: Como vs Manchester United tips

Como vs Manchester United score prediction

🔮 Como 2 – 1 Manchester United

Como have scored six goals in two Champions League games and meet a United defence without the suspended Yoro, but Mbeumo gives the visitors a route to a reply. Likely scorers: Douvikas, Paz and Mbeumo.