Erik ten Hag has endured a difficult start as Manchester United boss with the Dutchman losing his opening two Premier League games at the club but did manage an impressive 2-1 win over rivals Liverpool in their most recent outing.
The pressure of the Premier League day job will be mixed with European action in the coming weeks, as United kick off their Europa League campaign in September.
United failed to secure a return to the Champions League at the back end of 2021/22 with Old Trafford set to host Europe's second tier competition this season.
However, there is some optimism for United, as they head into the competition as the most recent winners in the 2022/23 version, following Jose Mourinho's success in 2017.
When is the 2022/23 Europa League draw?
The 2022/23 UEFA Europa League group stage draw will take place at 12pm (BST) / 7am ET on August 26, 2022.
How does the 2022/23 Europa League draw work?
Each round of the Europa League includes a draw to confirm a team's opponent and potential pathway deeper into the competition.
For preliminary rounds, seeding is based on UEFA club coefficients, splitting teams into seeded and unseeded categories, to determine subsequent pairings.
For the group stages, teams are divided into four pots to create eight groups of four sides, with one team selected from each pot to complete each group.
Ahead of the group stages, United have already been confirmed as a seeded team in Pot 1, amongst the sides with the highest UEFA coefficients.
Man United's dream group in the 2022/23 Europa League
As a Pot 1 team, United will avoid the other seven teams in the top eight highest coefficients in the final 32 entrants, ahead of the group stage draw.
They will not be placed into a group alongside Arsenal (also in Pot 1) due to UEFA rules on clubs from the same national association playing the same group.
Based on confirmed (league path) qualifiers, the best case scenario for United (based on current UEFA coefficient points) would be a group including FC Midtjylland, Nantes and tournament first timers Union Saint-Gilloise.
However, the final seedings picture will change based on the Europa League/Champions League play off results, but United cannot face the winners of either Rangers v PSV or Dynamo Kyiv as it stands.
Man United's nightmare group in the 2022/23 Europa League
Pot 1 qualification means United will avoid a similarly ranked side in the group stage draw but Ten Hag knows there are plenty of tricky sides still in the draw.
AS Monaco and Real Sociedad are the current highest ranked Pot 2 sides, ahead of the final round of games, with United knocking the Basque side out of the 2020/21 Europa League, but Monaco famously edged the Red Devils out of the Champions League way back in 1998.
Pot 3 and 4 could also present problems, with Bundesliga sides SC Freiburg and Union Berlin included alongside Sturm Graz, alongside a likely eight other qualifiers.
The Sporting News will update the dream and nightmare groups once the final pots have been confirmed following the conclusion of Thursday's playoff matches.
