Leicester City will be looking to secure another week as Premier League topper when they welcome title contender Manchester United, currently second in EPL at the King Power Stadium in Saturday Night Football. Claudio Ranieri’s troop comes into this clash with the form of their lives for sure. They are now on a four-match winning streak and a six-match unbeaten run.
In this article, we will try to look at five things to be expected from this weekend clash between Leicester City and Manchester United.
Expect a record-breaking night for Jamie Vardy
Jamie Vardy, with his excellent form in the Premier League, has proved that the Englishman surely has the ability to rewrite history in every match. While he did prove his potential in the much documented 5-3 victory over Manchester United last season by scoring once, the Leicester City attacker managed just 4 goals in rest of the 33 matches last term. As a matter of fact, all of the 5 goals in the Premier League he scored came only playing at home last Season.
However, this season it’s completely different. The 2015/16 campaign at one hand has thrown Mourinho’s Chelsea down the table; it has also given Jamie Vardy a chance to bring out the best out of himself.
He has till now scored in 10-consecutive matches ahead of tonight’s encounter with the United and an 11th consecutive strike will see Vardy leaving behind the Manchester United Legend Ruud Van Nistelrooy from one of his honours.
Will Rooney lead from the front?
Only Sir Bobby Charlton has scored more goals for Manchester United than Wayne Rooney, yet he will step into the Saturday Night Football trip to Leicester only with two League goals this season. The English striker once again failed to lead as a captain while the Red Devils drew goalless against PSV Eindhoven in their last champions league encounter, leaving the chances of making out of the group stage in danger. The 30-year-old United skipper has managed to score just once in his last seven matches for the club this season, so it’s eminent to face criticisms and tonight all eyes will be on him. Will he manage to score or will it be yet another failure? That’s a million dollar question.
van Gaal going for more attacking play
Louis van Gaal right now, must be used to the coveted attention that comes after a manager at Old Trafford, and he surely is not that much surprised regarding the response to below-par performances of his squad. The frustration was quite clear from the stands as boss welcomed the final whistle after a frustrated goalless draw against PSV Eindhoven which threw United in a challenging position in the Champions League. It was a performance which highlighted the issues many fans have with this team as the Red Devils fought throughout the 90 minutes without producing much creativity. The lack of ideas in the final third certainly a huge concern after spending huge in the summer.
Despite the continuous criticism in recent weeks, Manchester United still holds a strong position in the league table and they will climb the summit with a win against the Foxes today. But questions will be raised continuously until van Gaal’s troop show more convincing performances. The Dutch manager will be looking for more fireworks against Leicester to put an end to the Criticisms at least for now.
Who will win – Jamie Vardy or Chris Smalling?
When the last Season reached its twilight period, according to the stats, the Red devils were 5th the best defensive force of Premier League. They managed to concede 37 goals in 38 appearances and were the third best side according to the goals conceded in the top 4. But looking at this campaign, the scenario might not have changed completely. It has surely epitomized the importance of one particular man to the United – Chris Smalling. Enjoying the best Season of his career at Old Trafford, Smalling has managed to prevent the likes of Lukaku, Sterling and much more from scoring against the Manchester United.
Ironically, last season when the Red Devils travelled to Leicester, Smalling was not a fan favorite as he is now. He featured the last 20-minutes of that match following which the defender lost his place in the team for three successive games.
In this clash, nullifying the lightening quick offence of Vardy will be Smalling’s toughest job but the way he has become the Mr. Dependable of United back four it will be an interesting battle for sure. He is officially the hardest one to score against this term, having more clean sheets than any other Premier League defender, not only that, he also appears to be the one constant in his van Gaal’s miserly defence.
An unexpected Clash for the top spot
Don’t look at the league table, just inform a United fan that their side is now behind Leicester city, the reaction would be disastrous, but looking at the points table you must say, It’s far from it, as the Foxes are the only team ahead of Manchester United in the standings after a quite astonishing run under new boss Claudio Ranieri. It’s an encounter where the winner goes to the top at the end of the day. With 12 goals netted during both the side’s two meetings last season, today’s match certainly promises to be another interesting battle. Leicester bolstered with the deadliest attack of the league (28 goals), now have the task to pierce through United defence, who also have the tightest defence (conceding just 9 goals).