Manchester United vs Leicester City preview ahead of Saturday’s evening kickoff at Old Trafford.
Manchester United vs Leicester City
Premier League 2017-18
26th August 2017, 17:30 pm BST
Old Trafford, Manchester
Manchester United Team News & Preview
We’ve suffered no setbacks during the week and the only addition to our injury list since the Swansea City game is technically Zlatan Ibrahimovic as we signed him whilst injured.
We’re still without the trio of Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo. The former two returned to action for the under-23s on Monday night but are not yet ready for first team action. Rojo returned to training on Tuesday but this game comes far too soon for the Argentine.
Victor Lindelof was an unused substitute last weekend and could remain on the bench again as both Phil Jones and Eric Bailly have impressed in the centre of our defence.
There’s no reason for Jose Mourinho to change a winning formula following back-to-back 4-0 victories. However, Ander Herrera is yet to start a game and Anthony Martial is putting pressure on the boss for a start after coming off the bench to score in both matches.
However, I think we’ll see the same starting XI that have started the season. The international break follows this weekend’s action so there’s no reason to rest anyone.
Predicted Starting Lineup (4-2-3-1): David de Gea; Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly, Daley Blind; Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba; Juan Mata, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford; Romelu Lukaku
Leicester City Team News & Preview
Leicester City have had a couple of knocks at the back to starting centre-back pair Harry Maguire and Wes Morgan. However, both are expected to face Romelu Lukaku this weekend.
Robert Huth is out but isn’t expected to be a starter Craig Shakespeare’s lineup even when fit.
In attack, Leicester are still without summer signing Vicente Iborra whilst former-Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho is a doubt. Jamie Vardy picked up a knock in their midweek EFL Cup tie versus Sheffield United but is expected to make a full recovery in time to face us.
Riyad Mahrez is still at Leicester so we can expect him to start on the right wing.
Predicted Leicester Starting Lineup (4-4-2): Kasper Schmeichel; Danny Simpson, Wes Morgan, Harry Maguire, Christian Fuchs; Riyad Mahrez, Wilfried Ndidi, Matty James, Marc Albrighton; Shinji Okazaki, Jamie Vardy
Manchester United vs Leicester City Key Stats
3 – Romelu Lukaku could become the first player to score in his first three Premier League appearances for Manchester United.
4 – Henrikh Mkhitaryan registered just one Premier League assist last season but has already created four goals in just two games in the current campaign.
93% – Leicester have scored in 14 of their 15 Premier League matches under Craig Shakespeare.
Manchester United vs Leicester City Prediction
We’ve been ruthless in attack in our first two matches and I expect that to continue tomorrow evening.
Leicester’s defence looked vulnerable versus Arsenal in their first game whilst Brighton have brought little in attack to start the season.
I expect Romelu Lukaku to get the better of their two centre-backs whilst we should also win the one-on-one matchups down the wings. Leicester may try to stuff the middle of the pitch to cancel Mkhitaryan, Pogba and Matic’s games but I think we have too much quality there.
Yes, Leicester do offer a good attacking threat but I have been impressed by what I’ve seen from us in open play so far. My biggest concern would be that we’ve looked shaky from set pieces and this is where Wes Morgan and Harry Maguire are good threats.
Prediction: Manchester United 4-1 Leicester City
You must be logged in to post a comment Login