2022-23 Premier League: Week Five – Leicester vs Manchester United

Leicester City welcome Manchester United to the King Power Stadium in Thursday Night Football.

Victory would see Leicester climb off the foot of the table and up to 14th position, whereas Man Utd can go fifth with a win.

 

Team News

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James Maddison could return from a knock which kept him out of Leicester’s last two matches.

Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain absent.

Man Utd could welcome Victor Lindelof back if he passes a fitness test, having missed recent matches with a knock.

Anthony Martial (Achilles), Facundo Pellistri (ankle), Brandon Williams (unspecified) and Mason Greenwood (personal) remain ruled out.

Antony won’t be available because he is yet to officially finalise his transfer from Ajax to United and consequentially missed the player registration cut-off time.

 

Stat Attack

• Leicester are unbeaten in their last five matches against Man Utd in all competitions (W3, D2).
• Man Utd are unbeaten in six of their last seven league visits to Leicester (W3, D3, L1).
• Leicester’s Youri Tielemans has scored in his last two home appearances against Utd in all competitions (W2).
• Five of Leicester’s six league goals this season have been scored after half-time.
• Utd’s Bruno Fernandes has scored from just one of his four shots on target in their opening four matches this season.

 

Prediction

Sat in the relegation zone after losing at Chelsea last weekend, Leicester certainly should feel hard-done by because they were harshly denied goals on several occasions, yet they ultimately were wasteful of their chances on top of poor marking so I expect a reaction here.

Man Utd meanwhile were wasteful in their fairly lucky win at Southampton but they crucially had the clinical edge on top of decent defending, which proved the difference but they still need to improve here if they’re to continue their improved momentum.

Defending though hasn’t exactly been the strongest point for both teams but if Leicester can score first and tighten up, they might just be able to get a win otherwise a draw could well be a fair result as I expect Utd to have one eye on Sunday’s clash against Arsenal.

Prediction: Leicester 1-1 Manchester United