Leicester City’s start to the season has been phenomenal and staying 3rd in the Premier League table at the moment, some of the football played is very impressive and the as Manchester United a young and flourishing squad, who are a step in front of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s new agenda at Old Trafford.
Leicester City goes into the game with loads of self confidence and of course not scared of anyone at Manchester United, but as Brendan Rodgers said in the press conference, they believe they can go up there and achieve something, but are not fooling themselves with a belief that his is an easy away game.
Leicester City have over the years managed a win or a draw on a few occasions, but mostly been defeated comfortably by a Manchester United team going forward and trying to score as many goals as possible.
Going back you find that Tony Cottee match from 1998, with him scoring his first goal at this special stadium and going away with all points in front of their legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, but as he was almost immune, he survived a three point loss against Leicester City.
You will also remember the days of Jimmy Bloomfield and his boys winning it in 1973, scoring the goals were Keith Weller and Mike Stringfellow, both at their best capable of doing harm to every team they played against.
Leicester City will go into the game with little or no worries, able to field their strongest side and of course easy to be talking about Harry Maguire and his move, but all in all we haven’t thought much about him after he left, Caglar Soyuncu has showed that he so far has managed to fill the gap in a way few would have imagined.
Caglar Soyuncu was signed by former manager Claude Puel, who also bought James Maddison, loaned in Youri Tielemans and made Ben Chilwell the first choice left back, being under lot of criticism at first, but how that has turned out is a fairy story in itself. He also introduced Hamza Choudhury and Harvey Barnes as they got more and more game time, all of this now flourishing heavily under Brendan Rodgers.
Looking at Manchester United, you will think, that they can win against anyone and they can also be defeated, with a new and young approach they will hopefully be getting the results they are looking for, but hopefully Leicester City will bag all three points today and not really give a damn about the happenings at Manchester United.
TCF have never been a fan of Jesse Lingard, not really seeing him as a great player, with a certain Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata both available, they will probably be better alternatives. Marcus Rashford is a handful, a great forward and the way OGS has taken him under his wings, really shows how you can nurse forward great talent to become great players.
In the back they are probably without their new signing Wan-Bissaka, but that would give experienced utility man Ashley Young a chance, most certainly captaining the side as well in the absence of Paul Pogba who looks certain to miss the match. The talk of Pogba in itself is boring, because journalists tends to use his name as a metafor and build their stories around him, and it shows that they have a case to address and that is sad, since the player is one of the most gifted on this planet.
We should also talk a bit about Daniel James, who looks a class act and shows how you can find talent a league below and just as James Maddison did last season, taking the Premier League scene with no problem at all. DJ’s goals are scored with a great touch, and shows that OGS knows his trade of finding players with a special X-factor.
We would say that despite the talent seen in the Man Utd squad, Leicester City would be able to rock the boat, and go home with a win, they have played extremely well and with an early goal it could be very interesting.
Jamie Vardy has again started the season fantastically and the now 32 year old forward will of course be the main man for Leicester City, when we are talking about goals. Youri Tielemans is the key to that pass to find Vardy, and hopefully Solskjaer have all his focus on his own team as these two could find the space behind Maguire and Lindelof, if they are the partnership in that central defense.
Going back you will of course look at results, and former players and managers being in both camps, with a certain Frank O’Farrell coming to mind. He was part of that rebuild at Manchester United after Sir Matt Busby left and Wilf McGuiness had his try. Sir Matt Busby was the one picking those two, remembering from Frank’s own story on how the two met in Leicester and Sir Matt Busby managed to convince him to move, just being in charge of a promotion with Leicester City.
The stint at Old Trafford didn’t last long for Frank O’Farrell, with the presence of Busby still very much in place. While O’Farrell had to find a new jobs in the lower tiers of football, Jimmy Bloomfield fulfilled O’Farrell’s work and established an exciting outcome of that squad he inherited and developed further.
The scenario at Manchester United back in those days of O’Farrell is almost similar to what has gone on Old Trafford at the moment, not being patient enough with the new men coming in and why they have sacked people like David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, ending up with OGS as a solution, might be a question no one really can answer, because it looks as a plan no one might have drawn up as the future ahead after Sir Alex.
Why a club like Manchester United did not have a drawn up strategic outcast of the way forward after Sir Alex, makes you believe that football in itself does not have the right balance between sports and administration. Leicester City are a bit in the same situation juggling managers and changing styles as the weather change, but hopefully the game today will be an entertaining and joyful affair.
- Fun Fact:
- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was the last Manchester United player to score at Filbert Street. It was in that 1-0 win on the 6th of April 2002. It all happened in the 61st minute of 2nd half.
- Goals from Steve Claridge and Emile Heskey secured a 1996 4th round 2-0 EFL Cup win against Man Utd. A key game on the road to Leicester City winning the title that season.
- Kick Off, 15.00
- Venue: Old Trafford
- Last Meeting: 11 v. 11
- 03.02.19, PL, 0-1, Defeat, King Power Stadium
- Referee:
- Martin Atkinson
- Predicted Line-Up
- Leicester City
- Schmeichel, Pereira, Chilwell, Soyuncu, Evans, Tielemans, Choudhury, Maddison, Ndidi, Vardy, Albrighton
- Leicester City
Best Bet, 0-0, Win
The Opposition
- Nickname: Red Devils
- Colours: Red / Black
- Arch Enemy: Liverpool
- One to Watch: Daniel James
- Three Players, In Both Camps
- Current Squad
- Goalkeepers
- David de Gea
- Sergio Romero
- Lee Grant
- Defenders
- Eric Bailly
- Phil Jones
- Victor Lindelof
- Harry Maguire
- Luke Shaw
- Ashley Young
- Marcos Rojo
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka
- Axel Tuanzebe
- Timothy Fosu-Mensah
- Diego Dalot
- Midfield
- Paul Pogba
- Nemanja Matic
- Juan Mata
- Andreas Pereira
- Angel Gomes
- James Garner
- Scott McTominay
- Daniel James
- Jesse Lingard
- Forwards
- Marcus Rashford
- Tahith Chong
- Anthony Martial
- Mason Greenwood
- Goalkeepers
Preferred Links,
- Matchday Special, Update
- Official, Leicester City
- Official, Manchester United
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