The push for the top four in the Premier League starts now for Manchester United, and they cannot afford to drop any more points at home this season.
With nine games remaining, the Reds are four points behind fourth-place Arsenal and have played one less game. On Saturday, they host Leicester City, who are sitting in 10th place on 36 points, 14 behind United and 12 points out of the final European spot.
For United, now out of the FA Cup and the Champions League, the month of April is huge with only two home games, both against struggling sides. They will end the month on the road against Liverpool and Arsenal, but three of the four games in May are against teams in the bottom third of the table.
Leicester City return to action with a forgiving schedule after Saturday’s game at Old Trafford. They need to get momentum to take into contests against the likes of Crystal Palace, Newcastle United, Everton, and Aston Villa.
So far this season, they have two wins and seven losses in nine games against the top six teams, with victories against Liverpool and Manchester United.
Last game records
Before the International Break, Manchester United won at home 3-2 against Tottenham as Cristiano Ronaldo netted a hat trick. They are 3-1-1 in the last five games. Leicester beat Brentford at home before the break, and they are 3-2 in the last five games.
Leicester City beat Manchester United at home in October with a final score of 4-2 after three second-half goals. Last year City won in Manchester 2-1 after the teams tied in Leicester 2-2.
In the last 31 league games between the teams, Manchester United have won 19 and drawn eight while Leicester City have won four. At Old Trafford, Manchester United have won 10 and lost two to the Foxes.
Matchup Information
- Saturday, April 2, 12:30 p.m. ET. USA Network
- Old Trafford
- Manchester, England
Manchester vs Leicester Betting Analysis
United
Over the break, a handful of Reds starred for their national teams in World Cup qualifiers. Bruno Fernandes scored twice for Portugal on Tuesday to beat North Macedonia and qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Manchester teammates Ronaldo and Diogo Dalot are also on Portugal, and both played in the two playoffs qualifiers during the break.
Anthony Elanga started for Sweden for the first time, and Victor Lindelof also played, but the Swedes lost to Poland and will miss out on the World Cup. Edinson Cavani qualified with Uruguay, while others like Luke Shaw (England), Scott McTominay (Scotland), and Paul Pogba (France) played in friendlies.
As far as Premier League stats go, Ronaldo has scored 12 league goals this season, two shy of the Premier League record for a player aged 36 or over. Fernandes has nine goals on the season to go with six assists.
Team selection will be key for Ralf Rangnick, with nearly a full squad available, and he favors the 4-2-3-1. United have options in attack with Ronaldo, Fernandes, Elanga, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Pogba. Fred and McTominay could partner in midfield with Nemanja Matic also available.
United lead the Premier League with ten goals from substitutes this season. Rashford leads the way with four of those, and the Foxes have allowed a league-leading seven goals to opponents’ substitutes.
Leicester City
Over the break, Ademola Lookman and Kelechi Iheanacho played for Nigeria, who lost on away goals to Daniel Amartey and Ghana. Papy Mendy played for Senegal as they qualified with a win over Egypt in penalties, and Jonny Evans played in a friendly for Northern Ireland.
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel also played in friendlies for Denmark, while Youri Tielemans, Dennis Praet, and Timothy Castagne featured in Belgium’s friendlies.
The Foxes moved into 10th place when they beat Brentford before the break. Goals from Castagne and James Maddison got the job done against the Bees. Leicester also advanced in the Europa Conference League, reaching the quarterfinals, where they will face PSV Eindhoven in April.
They played those games without the injured Jamie Vardy. The Foxes striker has 10 g on the season and has six career goals in 16 games against Manchester United.
In his place, Iheanacho has been starting alone up top with Maddison and Harvey Barnes as attacking wingers. Defender Caglar Soyuncu has scored in the last two games against Man United, while Kasper Schmeichel has turned away numerous shots by the Reds to preserve the results in goal.
Leicester City have never won two straight games at Old Trafford. They also have never won both Premier League games against United in the same season.
Updates
Striker Edinson Cavani suffered a calf injury while helping Uruguay qualify for the World Cup on Tuesday. Shaw missed the Champions League game with COVID-19 but returned to play for England over the break and should be back in Saturday’s starting XI.
For the Foxes, the big question is Vardy, who has played just two of 15 matches in 2022 thanks to a knee injury. The Foxes are hoping to get him back in training this week and into their congested April fixture list.
Castagne returned from injury against Brentford and played 64 minutes before being replaced by Evans, also returning from injury. Wesley Fofana will also be available in the defense on Saturday.
- United have scored in nine of the last 10 Premier League games
- United are unbeaten in their last five home Premier League games
- Leicester have lost two of their last three away matches in the Premier League
- United have scored at least two goals in three of their last five Premier League games
- Leicester have scored at least two goals in each of the last three matches against United after being shutout in three straight in 2019-20.
Manchester vs Leicester Betting Preview
If Vardy is out, Maddison will have to run the offense through Iheanacho with help from Barnes and Tielemans. They have all played extremely well against United in recent games. The defense for United tends to have a couple of lapses during the games, especially in center, which is where the Foxes are likely to attack.
Ronaldo ended the pre-break games on top form while Fernandes had a great international break. Those two can carry any team, club, or country, and Pogba has been playing well since his return from injury. Rangnick needs to get something from Rashford and Sancho, especially if Cavani is hurt.
Manchester vs Leicester Betting Prediction
Taking a look at the Premier League betting odds, Manchester United is -190 to take all three points while Leicester City is +500. A draw in this game is +350.
Total goals is 2.5, with the over at -175 and the under at +140. Both teams to score is -155.
Ronaldo is one of the favorite Premier League picks to score a goal at -125 with Fernandes at +150.
How to bet on Manchester vs Leicester
When making your Premier League predictions look for goals in this one; it should be a high-scoring match – a 2-2 draw seems like a fair result.
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