Manchester United are aiming for their third consecutive win in the Premier League against a fragile Leicester City team still searching for their first three points of the new season.
Brendan Rodger’s side went down 2-1 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge even after having a man advantage for over 70 minutes while the Red Devils sneaked out a 1-0 win away at Southampton.
LEI vs MUN Match Details
Date: Thursday, 1 September 2022 / Wednesday, 2 September 2022
Time: 20:00 (BST) / 00:30 (IST)
Venue: King Power Stadium, Leicester
LEI vs MUN Match Preview
Another game, another frustrating result for Leicester as they lost out to Chelsea coming back from their humiliating loss to Leeds and down to ten men in the game through Conor Gallagher’s second yellow card in the first half. The Foxes lacked grit and determination on the day leaving the host bag full of spaces to dictate the play and go 2-0 up despite having numbers on their side. It was after Chelsea decided to defend the lead that Leicester began to have some hold in the game. Harvey Barnes pulled a goal back but Ayoze Perez hit the crossbar and Jamie Vardy in search of his first goal this season flung big chances to pile up the misery on their manager, Brendan Rodgers. The Foxes were also unfortunate with a series of injuries including James Maddison who have a hand in three out of six goals the team has scored in the first four games of the season. Midfielder Wilfred Ndidi’s absence was also felt as his replacement Boubacary Soumare struggled in the opposition’s press. The Nigerian should be fit to start the next game although Maddison remains a doubt. The late transfer of Wesley Fofana has, as expected, forced Leicester City to dove into the market to add a center-back into the rank with Rodgers relying on the defensive pair of Johnny Evans and Daniel Amartey in recent games while Caglar Soyuncu and Jannik Vestergaard are deemed not good enough to hold the mantle at the back. The club is on course to purchase 24-year-old Belgian defender Wout Faes from Stade Reims and are looking to seal former Chelsea winger Jeremy Boga’s signing from Atalanta. Goalkeeper Alex Smithies has also joined to give competition to Danny Ward after their leader Kasper Schmeichel departed to Nice winning every trophy possible in England for the Foxes. Leicester wishes to get those deals done before the deadline day before they face Manchester United in the midweek fixture at the wrong time possibly considering the Red Devils have started picking up wins to replace their slanting start to the new season. However, the Foxes are unbeaten in their last three games at home in this fixture.
Erik Ten Hag seems to slowly steady the ship at Manchester United with two wins on a spin after a disastrous beginning to his tenure at the club. The 2-1 loss to Brighton on the opening day coupled with a 4-0 decimation in the hands of Brentford amid continued protests from fans against the owners threaten to spill out all hopes for a positive campaign ahead but then some key decisions from the manager’s end in relegating club captain Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench with some intense training session helping the team to come back strongly. Few predicted them to romp against Liverpool, carrying major injuries, at Old Trafford in the manner which they did and carried the victory with a further three points at St Mary’s in the weekend. Bruno Fernandes, donning the captain’s armband now and looking like his old best, scored the only goal of the game for the win that was not controlled by any means. United once again had to take the way of being pragmatic in their approach which resulted in some massive chances for Southampton to score yet the home team failed to capitalize on them. But Ten Hag believes the big money signing of Antony and Casemiro finally ready to start a game will give them the required edge in the matches to come. The situation on the future of Ronaldo at the club still needs sorting before the deadline day as his continued saga seems the only one thing putting the team behind at the moment. For now, Ten Hag demands his team to make a mark against Leicester by hook or crook to keep on their pursuit to the upper reaches of the table and get their first win in this fixture they haven’t won in two years in all competitions. The Foxes are largely disorganized at this moment and don’t have a creative outlet other than the injured Maddison so Manchester United in turn may choose this game to show their true nature under the new management.
Recent Form (league)
LEI: LLLD
MUN: WWLL
LEI vs MUN Team News
Brendan Rodgers will bring back Wilfred Ndidi in the starting lineup having only managed a minute as a substitute in the loss against Chelsea. He replaced Boubacary Soumare in the process to provide solidity in the midfield alongside Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Youri Tielemans, still linked with a move away from the club. James Maddison remains a doubt for the midweek clash missing out on the last weekend game as well. Former Newcastle player Ayoze Perez will continue in his place. Rodgers is not counting on Caglar Soyuncu anymore so he won’t be featuring at the back anytime soon as an option to rotate the squad. The Foxes have rejected transfer bids for Jannick Vestergaard as they want to keep him after Wesley Fofana’s seemingly departure to Chelsea. Ricardo Pereira and Ryan Bertrand are two players not present in the squad due to injuries.
Manchester United will not have Antony available for the game against Leicester following his expensive $100m move from Ajax subject to international clearance is yet to be finalised before he can make his debut for his new club. Although, $70m signing Casemiro will receive his first start after making his debut against Southampton at the weekend. The Brazilian will replace Scott McTominay in the starting lineup as the only change Erik ten Hag is expected to make. Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo, who seem to be staying at the club beyond the deadline day, will warm the bench again. Anthony Martial is out again through a tendon injury as is Brendon Williams, Facundo Pellestri and Victor Lindelof.
LEI vs MUN Predicted Lineups
LEI: Danny Ward; Timothy Castagne, Daniel Amartey, Johnny Evans, James Justin; Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall; Ayoze Perez, Harvey Barnes; Jamie Vardy
MUN: De Gea; Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia; Casemiro, Christian Eriksen; Anthony Elanga, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho; Marcus Rashford
LEI vs MUN Head to Head
It was a chaotic day with screamers flying in from both the teams in the last meeting at the King Power in what turned out to be an absolute goal fest with Leicester winning 4-2 over United at the end. Youri Tielemans, Caglar Soyuncu, Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka scored for the home team while Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford got on the scoresheet for United. The last time the Red Devils won a game in this meeting was back in 2020 when Bruno Fernandes’s penalty and Jesse Lingard’s late goal sealed Champions League qualification on the final day of that season.
LEI vs MUN Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: De Gea
DEF: Dalot, Amartey, L Martinez, Castagne
MID: Tielemans, Casemiro, B Fernandes, Eriksen
FW: Rashford, Vardy
Captain: Bruno Fernandes
Vice-captain: Youri Tielemans
