Manchester United vs Leicester City Match

BPL 2018-19 - Manchester United vs Leicester City Match Preview

The Premier League is finally about to start and what an interesting match we have on the opening night! Manchester United host Leicester City. There’s been turmoil around the United camp, but Leicester are also coming with full of uncertainty so it’s a game where both teams will need a win to get off to a good start. Let’s get into the preview in deep.

Manchester United

Well, it’s not been the happiest summer for Man Utd. Jose Mourinho has voiced his frustrations over the lack of signings, they failed to improve on their weakness the back line as United signed NO defenders which was truly confusing. Only new played they added was Fred who is expected to make his debut for Man Utd in this game. With a lot of players still out of the lineup or some being unfit we can expect United to field a weakened squad but we’ll get into that later. Man Utd have had a very poor pre-season, failing to beat Mexico’s Club America, MLS bottom team SJ Earthquakes, being taken to pens by Milan, trashed 4-1 by Liverpool, lost to Bayern. The only 90 minute United have achieved was against Real Madrid’s youth side. It’s definitely not a very promising pre-season for United but you can understand it happening like it did due to the lack of key players missing. However, many players will still be out for the opening game and its definitely a worry for Man Utd.

In terms of team news, as mentioned we’ll see a weakened squad no doubt about it as already said. United without the injured Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic, Diogo Dalot, Romero, Marcos Rojo and Antonio Valencia. There are a lot of defensive minded players that will be out so not only the fact that United failed to sign any defensive minded player, they will be missing a lot of key defensive players from the squad that they already had and it could be very likely that Leicester could open them up easier so de Gea must be on his game to start the season. Paul Pogba, Fellaini and Lukaku have all just returned from training this week so we should not put out hopes on them starting right away, they could all be used as impact subs therefore the youngster Andreas Pereira could get a chance to start after having a very good pre-season. We’ll probably see Rashford start over Lukaku, Mata and Alexis will be expected to start too after playing for the most of the pre-season. Anthony Martial is also back in the lineup. It’s hard to predict what Jose will do with the limited squad so we’ll just have to wait until the lineups are announced, just know that it will be a weakened side and it will be a very tough game against Leicester City.

Leicester City

Well, Leicester may have lost Riyad Mahrez, but you simply can’t underestimate them coming into this match. Leicester have had a relatively decent transfer window bringing in Rachid Ghezzal from Monaco who will be expected to fill Mahrez’s boots, they’ve added Jonny Evans, James Maddison and of course kept Harry Maguire. Leicester haven’t had the type of turmoil that we’ve seen at United during the summer, they are in positive spirits rights now and coming into Old Trafford against a team full of uncertainty they’ll surely fancy their chances here. Leicester had an ok pre-season, nothing crazy, picked up a good win over Lille, smashed Notts County 4-1, drew with Valencia and Akhisarispor and lost to Udinese. It’s nothing great but it’s not awful. We can expect Leicester to play the counter attacking game here and seeing how United are going lack a lot of important defensive players, Leicester can truly punish them, especially with the pace of Jamie Vardy up front.

In terms of team news, Vardy and Maguire are both expected to play. Demarai Gray has been declared fit while the new signings Jonny Evans, James Maddison and Rachid Ghezzal are all fit and could all be involved to play. We can expect Leicester to give up possession and play a counter attacking style of football as already mentioned and they are very good at it and they have the players to punish Man Utd’s average backline. Leicester should definitely not be taken lightly by Man Utd because they are more than capable, after all they did win the Prem in 2016 and they know how to take on big teams. This is a great opportunity for them to get off to a good start which is something Claude Puel desperately needs after having fans get on his back last season.

What to Expect

Well, we can expect United to dominate possession and create more chances, however this is a pretty evenly match considering the absentees and unfit players that United have. Man Utd are the odds on favourites, but if you wanted to bet here, a Leicester win at 7.42 or draw at 3.91 definitely have lots of value (odds on Pinnacle). We don’t expect Leicester to be blown over in this match, in fact we’re giving them a very good chance to pick up some points. We should not expect many goals in this match due to the fact that matches that have Jose involved tend to be 2-0 1-1 0-0 or 1-0 for the most part. In this case we’re going to predict a 1-1 draw. United are too limited right now and Leicester are no pushover. Neither team really stands out at this stage so a draw seems the most realistic ending.

Match Odds (Pinnacle)

Manchester Utd Win 1.584

Leicester City Win – 7.42

Draw – 3.91

KICK OFF – 10th August 2018 – 8pm UK Time