Leicester vs Man Utd: Preview, predictions and lineups

Manchester United take on Leicester City for the fourth time this season, with King Power Stadium playing host to Sunday’s Premier League clash.

The two sides faced off in both domestic cup competitions as United continued their dominance in this fixture. The Red Devils have won each of the previous five meetings.

Most recently, Leicester were controversially knocked out of the FA Cup at Old Trafford thanks to a late Harry Maguire header which would’ve been ruled out had VAR been in use.

United have since been eliminated from the FA Cup themselves and have little to play for in the Premier League, but they are still going strong in Europe. An emphatic 4-1 victory, inspired by a Bruno Fernandes hat-trick, over Real Sociedad on Thursday night saw them into the last eight of the Europa League.

Leicester have long looked out of sorts with former Red Devil Ruud van Nistelrooy at the helm, and they enter Sunday’s bout having failed to score in their previous four outings. The hosts are 19th and are currently six points adrift of Wolves in 17th.

Here is 90min’s preview of the game.

Leicester vs Man Utd head-to-head record (last five games)

Current form (all competitions)

The Foxes have long been without the services of winger Abdul Fatawu, who’s out for the rest of the season due to an ACL tear.

Ricardo Pereira has recently returned from his injury setback but is likely to feature off the bench again this weekend. Van Nistelrooy may retain the back three from last week’s defeat at Chelsea, with the Dutchman deploying a back four for the first couple of months of his tenure.

Harry Souttar has been on the periphery this term and is out of action with an ankle injury. Odsonne Edouard is a doubt.

Leicester predicted lineup vs Man Utd (3-4-2-1): Hermansen; Faes, Coady, Vestergaard; Justin, Soumare, Ndidi, Kristiansen; El Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy.

Amorim had Manuel Ugarte back on the bench on Thursday, and the Man Utd boss has said Harry Maguire will be assessed ahead of Sunday’s game.

He also suggested that Mason Mount will be back on the bench having been out since mid-December. The Englishman has an admirer in Amorim, who also spoke glowingly of 18-year-old Ayden Heaven in his pre-match press conference.

There’s hope Kobbie Mainoo will return at some point in April. Amad Diallo, Jonny Evans, Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw, and Lisandro Martinez miss out again. Patrick Dorgu is suspended.

Man Utd predicted lineup vs Leicester (3-4-2-1): Onana; De Ligt, Maguire, Heaven; Mazraoui, Fernandes, Casemiro, Dalot; Zirkzee, Garnacho; Hojlund.

The recent FA Cup meeting between the two sides was competitive, and Van Nistelrooy, of course, has the incentive of getting one over Amorim on Sunday – especially given the nature of their defeat in the cup.

Leicester are poor and there’s no sign that they’ll improve before the season draws to a close, but we should expect some sort of resurgence on Sunday after a dire run of results. Despite scoring four in midweek, United don’t have the capacity to streak away from the hosts, who are bound to enjoy some control given what Amorim’s side opt to do without the ball.

There may be a slight slump after Thursday’s big win, and Leicester will make United work hard for all three points.

Prediction: Leicester 1-2 Man Utd

READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, RUMOURS & GOSSIP