Friday 30 January 2015

Match preview: United v Leicester City

Aaaaaargh, Leicester City.... their very mention makes us wince.

Unfortunately for the Foxes, though, such has been their change in fortunes since that 5-3 reverse at the King Power in September, when the Reds relinquished a 3-1 lead, that they sit rock bottom of the Barclays Premier League going into this Old Trafford encounter.

Despite their lowly league position, however, Nigel Pearson's side have re-found their form of late and have won three of their last four games in all competitions, so they will be not be pushovers for Louis van Gaal's team.
Having beaten United in that crazy game in September, Leicester then embarked on a 13-game winless streak, a run only ended with a 1-0 win at Hull just after Christmas.
That sparked an upturn in results and they have since lost only once in their last six games.

United midfielder Michael Carrick will be sidelined for up to a month after he sustained a ruptured muscle in training and will therefore miss his side's clash with the struggling Foxes on Saturday.
Ashley Young is close to full fitness following his hamstring injury, but defenders Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling are both doubtful.
Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata, who both sat out the FA Cup tie at Cambridge, could be restored to the starting line-up.

In an unusually brief pre-match press conference on Friday, van Gaal said:
“It's true that we have not created many chances in the last two or three matches, but therefore I have changed my system.
“We have to play more quickly with a high ball speed because our opponents are defending a small area so we need to make them more disorganised.
“It is difficult then to attack but everyone knows that we need to finish the chances and maybe also with a little bit of luck.
“We know that Leicester will come with a game plan so it is up to us to play with a higher level of aggression and then we will have a better opportunity to win this game.”

With the top two sides, Chelsea and Manchester City meeting at Stamford Bridge on Saturday tea-time, and Southampton not in action until Sunday, this game presents United with a perfect opportunity to make up ground on the teams above us in the league.


Form guide: United D D W L W D Leicester City W D W W L W
Match odds: United 3/10 Leicester City 9/1 Draw 4/1 (Unibet)
Referee: Martin Atkinson



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