Man Utd v Leicester – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Man Utd host Leicester at Old Trafford on Tuesday night in the English Premier League. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have secured a top four finish but have had just one rest day since they last played. Leicester have hit a dip in form and are under pressure from teams below them in the race for a Champions League spot. Brendan Rodgers’ side have a tough run-in and need to try to take all three points from this match.

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Man Utd Form

Man Utd are in good form as the season reaches it’s climax. They have just two losses in their last 24 matches as they were beaten 3-1 by Leicester in the FA Cup in March, and then suffered a 3-2 loss at Roma last week when the tie was all but won. Their last 14 matches in all competitions have brought ten wins and they’ve scored 23 goals in their last nine matches.

Solskjaer has his team in very good home form with no defeats in 11 at Old Trafford and with five wins in a row. Nine goals have been scored in their last two matches on their own turf. Their last match saw a 3-1 win at Aston Villa are trailing 1-0 at half time. A Bruno Fernandes penalty and strikes from Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani sealed the win.

Man Utd Team News

Solskjaer is in a difficult position with just Monday to recover and then another match. Anthony Martial, Phil Jones and Dan James are all out injured to reduce options whilst Harry Maguire went off against Villa with an ankle problem and is not expected to play.

Some rotation is certain with the short turnaround time and also a home match against Liverpool on Thursday. The likes of David De Gea, Alex Telles, Eric Bailly, Nemanja Matic and Donny van de Beek should all be in contention to start with rests for the likes of Dean Henderson, Luke Shaw, Fred and Marcus Rashford. Bailly will likely partner Victor Lindelof should Maguire miss out but Axel Tuanzebe is another option too.

Man Utd Motivation

United will play to win this match and extend the title race until the weekend at least, even though they are resigned to Man City lifting the trophy.

Arguably, the bigger match this week is against Liverpool so there is likely to be more rotation for Leicester and closer to the best XI on Thursday. United may even go with a back three to match up Rodgers’ side and a solid approach is likely with match winners thrown on with 20 minutes to go in Cavani and Rashford.

Leicester Form

Leicester are suffering a late-season dip in form as they did last year. Their last six Premier League matches have seen defeats to Man City and 3-2 away at West Ham. They bounced back by beating West Brom 3-0 and Crystal Palace 2-1. Their last two results have been desperately disappointing though.

A 1-1 draw at Southampton was a shock having faced ten men for 80 minutes and then falling behind in the match. In their most recent match, they were 4-0 down at home to Newcastle after 73 minutes before two late consolation goals from Marc Albrighton and Kelechi Iheanacho.

Leicester Team News

Leicester are still without James Justin and Harvey Barnes who won’t play again this season. Jonny Evans has been carrying a heel problem and is on crutches having pulled out of the Newcastle match in the warmup.

Rodgers dropped Timothy Castagne into the back three against Newcastle and he made a howler leafing to a goal. The Belgian could revert to wingback with Daniel Amartey selected in central defence instead. The coach could also stiffen up his midfield by leaving out James Maddison and selecting Nampalys Mendy with Youri Tielemans playing slightly further forward. A 3-5-2 shape is expected to be maintained as it allows Iheanacho to partner Jamie Vardy.

Leicester Motivation

The Foxes are five points clear of West Ham, six points clear of Liverpool and seven points clear of Tottenham but they face Man Utd, Chelsea and Tottenham in their final three matches. A point here would be a very good result in isolation but a win is needed otherwise they may still need to beat Chelsea and Spurs if Liverpool win their last four matches.

Expect Rodgers to look to play at a high intensity against what is certain to be a tired Man Utd side having had so little recovery time. There may be one eye on the FA Cup next weekend for some of the Leicester players though.

Key Stats

Man Utd have lost 2 of their last 24 matches (W14, D8)

Man Utd have won 7 of their last 8 matches

Man Utd have won 5 home matches in a row

United are 11 home matches unbeaten (W8, D3)

Leicester ;have won 1 of their last 14 matches against Man Utd (L9, D4)

The Foxes have lost 3 of their last 6 PL matches

Leicester have conceded 9 goals in their last 5 PL matches

Leicester have drawn 5 of their last 10 away PL matches (W4, L1)

Prediction

This match is difficult to call because it’s unknown how many changes Solskjaer will make to his lineup and just how fatigued his players will be. Leicester are in poor form and may be distracted by the FA Cup final. However, they have enough to take a point from this match due to their extra freshness and the possible absence of Maguire.