Two giants of English Football collide as Manchester United welcome Leeds United to Old Trafford in the third of four Super Sunday matches.
Victory could send Man Utd as high as third whereas Leeds could go tenth with a win because Aston Villa don’t play until Sunday evening and Wolves aren’t in action until Monday teatime.
Team News
Edinson Cavani is set to be in contention for Man Utd after recovering from a muscle injury that kept the Argentinean sidelined in recent weeks.
Marcos Rojo (calf) and Phil Jones (knee) are both ruled out until early January at earliest.
Leeds have no fresh injury concerns to report as Diego Llorente (muscle), Adam Forshaw (hip), Gaetano Berardi and Robin Koch (both knee) remain sidelined.
Stat Attack
- Manchester United are unbeaten in 20 of 24 previous Premier League meetings against Leeds (W13, D7, L4), with their last such clash coming in February 2004.
- Leeds are winless in their last 15 league trips to Old Trafford (D6, L9).
- In 24 previous Premier League meetings, either team are yet to be awarded a penalty.
- No Leeds players have produced more assists this season than Jack Harrison and Mateusz Klich with four assists each in 12 and 13 league appearances respectively.
- Utd’s Luke Shaw has made one assist in eight league appearances this season compared to none in 24 outings last season.
Prediction
Man Utd did an excellent job to come from behind to beat Sheffield Utd on Thursday but their defensive issues do still remain which the Blades exposed both at the start and conclusion, which will be a huge issue against this attack minded Leeds team.
Saying that, Leeds face a tough task to replicate their excellent high-energy tempo from Wednesday against Newcastle because their defending against crosses are still a serious issue, which will be a real worry if the Red Devils decide to try and force opportunities from set pieces.
I however do expect Man Utd to come out and dictate this game but if Leeds can absorb the pressure and hit them on the counter with clinical play and pace, this could well come down to defending although the visitors’ poor away form in this fixture counts against them.
Prediction: Manchester United 2-1 Leeds United
Result: Manchester United 6-2 Leeds United
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