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Ruben Amorim is still adjusting at Manchester United. His comments have suggested that it’s not a task that he’s finding easy, and the results suggest the same.
The Red Devils have struggled in the Premier League and head into this game following a surprise home defeat to Crystal Palace, which left them stranded in 13th place. They have lost just two of their last eight matches across all competitions. However, losses to Brighton & Hove Albion and Palace have kept them grounded.
For Leicester, they’ll be aiming to bounce back from their heavy league loss to Everton over the weekend, in which Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men were handed their eighth defeat in the last 10 matches. This means they haven’t kept a clean sheet in any competition for four months now.
Manchester United Expected Lineup: Onana, Yoro, Maguire, De Ligt, Mazraoui, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dorgu, Diallo, Fernandes, Hojlund.
Leicester City Expected Lineup: Hermansen, Kristiansen, Vestergaard, Faes, Justin, Winks, Soumare, Ayew, El Khannouss, De Cordova-Reid, Vardy.
United’s Main Man and Chief Rescuer
He may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but there’s no doubt about Bruno Fernandes’ importance to the Red Devils at this current juncture. With nine goals and 11 assists over the course of the season so far, he is the club’s most productive player. Furthermore, he also has a habit of scoring important goals.
As United’s penalty taker, too, he’s a good option as anytime goalscorer, and he’s scored in two of their last FA Cup games – as well as saving the day in their recent win over Rangers in injury time. Amad Diallo, their other top scorer, is at 1.95 to find the back of the net, while potential debutant, Patrick Dorgu, can be found at 4.00.
Amorim’s side are clearly the favourites here, given that even their stuttering form is an improvement on what has been a dire few months for the Foxes. However, that doesn’t mean that it’ll be straightforward for them as Ruud van Nistelrooy returns to his old stomping ground.
Old Trafford has been a real breeding ground for goals of late, with eight of the last 10 there resulting in games that ended with over 2.5 goals, while all of Leicester’s last seven away fixtures have done the same. These two teams are not ones that you want to watch if you enjoy a clean sheet.
Van Nistelrooy is a man who knows exactly what sort of defensive problems United have been having, and things were made even worse recently when it was confirmed that Lisandro Martinez faced a lengthy spell on the sidelines after a severe injury in that disappointing defeat to Palace. What Amorim decides to do in his absence will be interesting.
The Manchester giants have kept just two clean sheets in their last 16 games across all competitions, with only one of them coming domestically. With a potentially revamped defence following Martinez’s injury and Dorgu’s arrival, City might aim to exploit that.
History suggests a home win, as the hosts have won all four of their most recent meetings with Leicester, including three clean sheets. However, in the upcoming Manchester United vs Leicester City predictions, Leicester hopes that they can channel the sort of performance that saw them beat Tottenham Hotspur away recently, and cause some problems for the 13-time FA Cup winners.