Manchester United will look to rotate heavily as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer side play four matches in eight days, the third of which comes against Leicester on Tuesday night.
After completing the job in Rome and securing their place in the Europa League final, United came from behind to beat Aston Villa away to remain unbeaten on the road this season. The win against Villa also took United to 31 points from losing positions as the visitors conceded in the 24th minute before marauding back in the second half to turn the game on its head
United will also have to take their Thursday battle against arch-rivals Liverpool into account and will look to reshuffle players, in order to keep fit with the fixture pile-up
Leicester City will have to bounce back after their humbling performance against Newcastle last week where they lost 4-2. The foxes were trailing 4-0 but avoided further embarrassment as they scored two late goals.
Currently, fourth on the table with West Ham and Liverpool tailing them, Brendan Rodgers’s outfit will want to avoid another season-ending collapse which saw them miss out on the top four last season.
TEAM NEWS
Manchester United are already without the injured trio of Daniel James, Anthony Martial and Phil Jones. United have been further dealt a blow as the ever-present Harry Maguire sustained an ankle injury against Aston Villa which could rule him out for a while.
With just 48 hours between matches, United will look to rotate, with Eric Baily, Alex Telles looking to replace Maguire and Shaw. United will also look to include Donny Van de Beek and Nemanja Matic in their starting lineup.
Important win ✅
Hoping the injury isn’t nothing serious and I’ll be back playing soon 💪 Thanks everyone for your messages ❤️ #MUFC pic.twitter.com/Y4KQ0HJ9Xr
— Harry Maguire (@HarryMaguire93) May 9, 2021
Manchester United Probable Lineup: Henderson; Tuanzebe, Lindelof, Bailly, Telles; Matic, McTominay, Van de Beek; Fernandes; Greenwood, Cavani
Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has hinted that James Maddison might not start against United. The English playmaker returning from a hip injury started the game against Newcastle but is not fully fit.
If Maddison is left out, Ayoze Perez could start alongside Jamie Vardy and the in-form Kelechi Iheanacho. Ricardo Pereira’s situation is also being monitored as the full-back has also just recently returned from injury.
🗣"Everything is in our hands."
Brendan Rodgers says Leicester's Champions League hopes are still in their hands despite a 4-2 loss to Newcastle pic.twitter.com/Bcga0PjFt7
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 8, 2021
Leicester City Probable Lineup: Schmeichel; Amartey, Soyuncu, Fofana, Castagne; Ndidi, Tielemans, Thomas; Perez; Iheanacho, Vardy
GAME CHANGERS
Edinson Cavani’s mercurial form for United continued as the striker came off the bench to score against Aston Villa which takes his goal tally to 15 goals from 17 starts. The experienced striker has had a massive influence on the team especially the young strikers like Mason Greenwood.
“He’s exactly the same as last week, you know what he’s going to do but you can’t seem to stop him,” “It’s his movement, everyone knows he can do it but they can’t stop it, I’m sure we’re all learning off him, me, Rashy, all the attackers and all the young lads are looking up to him, so it’s good to have him there,” Greenwood said.
5 – Edinson Cavani has equalled the Manchester United record for the highest number of Premier League goals scored as a substitute in a season, currently held by Chicharito in 2010-11 and Ole Gunnar Solskjær in 1998-99 (5 each). Weapon.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 9, 2021
Big game specialist Jamie Vardy will look to avoid any slip up against United and assure the Foxes quest for Champions League football next season stays alive. The absence of Maguire may cause problems to the United backline that the Leicester forward will be looking to exploit.
Jamie Vardy has now scored 8 goals against Liverpool, only against Arsenal [11] and Man City [9] has he scored against more.
Another goal against a Big Six side. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/x7LpZU6jox
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 13, 2021
Vardy has scored 36 goals against the big six since his debut in 2014. He will be looking to continue his big game influence against the Reds as they look to reshuffle their lineup.
PREDICTION
Manchester City’s loss to Chelsea on the weekend derailed their champagne party and since they don’t play till Friday, United can go to within 4 points behind them. The fact that United is still mathematically in the race will play on Solskjaer mind and he will want to take the battle down to the wire.
Leicester will be looking to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since the 2016-17 season. After consistently being in the vicinity of the top four places this season, Leicester will want to get the job done and secure a spot in the Champions League
FootTheBall predicts Manchester United 2-1 Leicester City.