Leicester City will look to end a run of three games without a win in one of their toughest tests of the season.
Steve Cooper’s side travel to Manchester United off the back of two defeats and one draw in all competitions – with one of those losses coming against the Red Devils in the Carabao Cup.
Two points separate the two teams in the Premier League and should the Foxes win and results go their way, they’ll go eight points clear of the bottom three.
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
11 | Newcastle | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 15 |
12 | Brentford | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 13 |
13 | Manchester United | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 12 |
14 | West Ham | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 19 | -6 | 11 |
15 | Leicester | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 18 | -4 | 10 |
16 | Everton | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 17 | -7 | 9 |
17 | Crystal Palace | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 13 | -5 | 7 |
18 | Ipswich | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 21 | -11 | 5 |
To make matters more positive, Cooper is set to have a near-full-strength squad available and could even have Patson Daka and Hamza Choudhury back in contention to feature on the bench at least.
Here’s how we think the Leicester boss will line up at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Leicester side that could face Man United
Only one change should be made to the side that earned a last-gasp draw at Ipswich Town.
Despite calls for Boubakary Soumare to start after a mini resurgence in the past two games, there is only a place for him on the bench while Jordan Ayew will have to settle for his new-found role as super-sub once again.
The biggest difference will see Wout Faes drop out of the XI after a difficult start to the season.
Mads Hermansen
A no-brainer and probably the first name on the teamsheet, Mads Hermansen will start in between the sticks.
Ricardo Pereira
Keeps his place in the starting XI despite a fairly unspectacular start to his campaign. Offers more defensively than James Justin right now and from a leadership perspective, Ricardo Pereira is important to have in a relatively young defence.
Caleb Okoli
Comes in for Faes after being dropped by Cooper last time out. Has a mistake or two in him but Caleb Okoli has been pretty solid since joining the Foxes and will compliment the style of Jannik Vestergaard.
Jannik Vestergaard
Speaking of which, the Dane keeps his spot at centre-back. Bar a brief lapse of concentration at Ipswich, Vestergaard looked at home back in the side and formed a strong left-hand side of the back four.
Victor Kristiansen
The final piece of the puzzle. Like his international counterpart, Victor Kristiansen returned from injury at Portman Road and played well until coming off as City chased an equaliser. He deserves his place.
Harry Winks
The heartbeat of this midfield. When Harry Winks isn’t ticking, neither is Leicester. His composure in the middle of the park will be vital at Old Trafford and given he is likely to come up against a duo of Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte, he has a chance to get his foot on the ball and dictate the play.
Wilfred Ndidi
Now back in the more defensively-minded role he was brought in to play in back in 2017, Wilfred Ndidi has looked like his old self.
The Nigeria international is joint-second on the list for most tackles in the Premier League this season while also chipping in with four assists.
He was the player who would’ve dropped out if Cooper had opted to bring Soumare or Oliver Skipp in, but those two are likely to have an impact off of the bench.
Abdul Fatawu
There were concerns over Abdul Fatawu’s availability last weekend after Cooper had revealed he had to miss the Carabao Cup defeat against Man United due to injury, but Fatawu looked raring to go from the off against Ipswich.
His best asset is when he takes on defenders with his pace and given the fragile state of this United side he is coming up against, it’s a prime time to deploy that on Sunday.
Facundo Buonanotte
Leicester’s best player this season, no question about it. Facundo Buonanotte is celebrating another call-up to the Argentine national team this week and what better way to celebrate it than another great performance and win at Old Trafford.
Stephy Mavididi
Could’ve been a candidate to drop out of the XI after his worst performance of the season last weekend but Stephy Mavididi suits these sorts of games well.
He’s been one of the Foxes’ better players in the first few months of the season and once poor performance doesn’t result in being relegated to the bench.
Jamie Vardy
Another no-brainer. Jamie Vardy looks fitter, stronger, and hungrier than ever and is the club’s top goalscorer this season.
Odsonne Edouard is seemingly out of favour and right now, the 37-year-old is leading by example.
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