Manchester United have got off to one of their best starts in the Premier League in over a hundred years winning both the initial games by margins of four goals. Hefty acquisitions of the previous season and this one, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lakaku, have struck great form getting 3 and 2 goals respectively from their recent Premier League outings.
Also raring to go at Leicester City at Old Trafford next week will be Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Emile Rashford – all of whom have been among goals. Even Ex-Chelsea man, Nemanja Matic at the central midfield has proved to be a fruitful acquisition, performing with great skill – blocking of attacks and essaying deadly passes with precision. The Serbian play maker could be a real tormenter when the Foxes come visiting to Old Trafford next week.
Craig Shakespeare’s men are showing the same spark they did two seasons ago when they won the Premier League. They were impressive in their 3-4 defeat to Arsenal and brushed aside new entrants, Brighton, on Saturday, 2-0. Jamie Vardy seems to have found his old touch getting a brace against Arsenal and combining beautifully with Riyad Mahrez upfront. But there is cause for Leicester to worry as Vardy was seen limping off in the dying minutes of the Brighton game. Foxes manager Shakespeare later clarified that the striker’s injury to his ankle isn’t that serious and thus raising hopes among fans that he will be able to feature in the big Old Trafford clash. £25 million Manchester City import £25 million, Kelechi Iheanacho, is reportedly recovering from a toe-injury and expected to feature in the weekend clash. Shinji Okazaki’s been in great form scoring in both matches against Arsenal and Brighton and it looks unlikely that the out-of-touch Islam Slimani will take his place in the starting XIagainst United. Riyad Mahrez who has been performing splendidly will be looked upon by Shakespeare to create goals in the event of a Vardy absence. As for the defense, there is some shakiness with the ever-dependable Robert Huth and the new acquisition Nampalys Mendy yet to play a game. The injured Danny Drinkwater is another vital absencein the mid-field – all of which could mean that it could be a potentially rather depleted Leicester City side at the Old Trafford on the weekend.
Since the time of Leicester City’s re-entry into the Premier League in 2014 after a decade-long gap, the Foxes have registered just one win of 5-3 against United at the King Power Stadium in that very year. In the six games following that, their Saturday’s opponents have remained unbeaten and in fact inflicted heavy defeats on the Foxes of 4-1 and 0-3 in home and away games last season. Bookmakers are thus heavily betting on the hosts to win.
The odds for a Manchester United win are 1/4 with the most likely score line reading 2-0 going for odds of 5/1. The odds of a draw are at 19/4. The odds of Leicester winning are at 10/1. Given United’s record of clean-sheets in both their previous outings, score lines of 2-0 and 3-0 look very likely.
Recommended Tip:
Lukaku Anytime Goalscorer, Best Odds 4/5 @ BetfairSportsbook