English Premier League 2014-15 | ||
Leicester City |
vs | Manchester United |
ScheduleSunday, 21 September 2014 at 12:30 GMT / 13:30 UK / 18:00 IST VenueKing Power Stadium (Leicester) |
Next Sunday, 21st of September 2014, a Manchester United with fresh hopes will visit the King Power Stadium to face Leicester for the fifth round of the English Premier League.
It is fair to say that Manchester United are not the worst team in the world because of their bad season start nor because of their defeat against the modest MK Dons, but it is also fair to say that they are not the best just because they slammed QPR last Sunday. Nevertheless, such a win might provide United with the necessary motivation to make a fresh start at the English Premier League.
Louis Van Gaal implemented some changes in his team last Sunday, not only because of the new arrivals but also due to the team’s bland performances during the previous matches. The Dutch manager experimented something quite similar to a diamond shaped 4-4-2 style, with Blind acting as defensive midfielder at one vertice of the diamond and Juan Mata working as an advanced playmaker behind the front duo, with Di Maria and Ander Herrera filling the remaining positions of the middle setup.
Van Gaal’s experimentat seems to have worked just fine as United dominated the entire match and were particularly overwhelming, especially during the first-half.
Last Sunday’s match at Old Trafford has also offered United supporters the opportunity to see their latest signing, Radamel Falcao, in action, as he replaced Juan Mata on the 67th minute to pair up with Van Persie in the front, while Rooney assumed the creative Spanish midfielder’s role.
For the match against Leicester, Van Gaal will probably still not be able to rely on the contribution of Fellaini, Jones, Carrick, Lingard, Smalling and Young, all of them sidelined due to injury.
As for Leicester, the match against United probably does not come at the best of times, especially after the Red Devils motivating win over QPR last weekend, but the Foxes have already proved that they are a very tough bone to chew this season.
Last Saturday, Leicester clinched an excellent win at Stoke, who had defeated Manchester City two weeks ago, thanks to another goal by their Argentinean striker Leonardo Ulloa, who has already scored three times in just four matches this season.
The last time both sides measured forces at the King Power Stadium was in 2003 and back then United won by 4-1. For next Sunday’s clash, and despite their bumpy season start, the Red Devils are to be considered favourites, but they need to be extremely careful if they don’t want to be caught by surprise once again.
Leicester
Stats: W-1 L-2 D-2
Recent Form - WDLLD
Manchester United
Stats: W-1 L-2 D-2
Recent Form - WDLDL
Possible Line-ups
Leicester (4-4-2) - Schmeichel - de Laet - Konchesky - Moore - Morgan - Schlupp - King - Hammond - Mahrez - Ulloa - Nugent
Manchester United (4-4-2 Diamond) – De Gea - Rafael - Rojo - Evans - Blackett - Blind - Herrera - Di Maria - Mata - Rooney - Van Persie
Prediction
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