Leicester City Previews: ‘Nothing but the Huth’ – Can the Foxes bounce back against the red half of Manchester?

Leicester City vs Manchester United

23/12/17

Kick off 7:45pm

Preview:

Guess who’s back, back again.

Apologies for no pieces last week; it’s not like we lost 3-0 at home to Crystal Palace or anything…

Moving on swiftly – I don’t know whether we as Leicester fans, as well as United fans, should feel privileged as this will be the first game to be shown on a Saturday late evening. The Premier League have introduced this, hoping to make it work.

It seems fitting that both of these sides face each other after their own cup exits earlier on this week. Leicester losing on penalties to United’s not-so noisy neighbours, whereas Mourinho’s men crashed out at Championship side Bristol City.

I suppose this game is about getting back on track for both teams. This game could be anything, it could be 5-5 or 0-0, but I do fancy goals this weekend at the King Power Stadium.

Stats:

Man Utd come into this game with decent enough league form. They’ve only lost one of their last seven, with their only defeat coming in the Manchester Derby a few weeks ago.

Leicester’s league form almost matches that of their visitors, losing only two of their last seven games in the Premier League.

Leicester have hit the ground running under Claude Puel, scoring 15 goals in his short time in charge of the Foxes thus far, conceding 12 since his first game against Everton back in October.

Looking at half time stats, Manchester United have only been losing at half time once all season – 0 at home, one away. 56% of their matches (10 games), they’ve been leading at half time – five at home, five away.

Continuing from that, Leicester’s half time record at the King Power this season is a mixed bag. They’ve been leading four times, drawing only the once and losing four times. Breaking that down further, what that signals to me is that there tends to be goals in the first half, especially when it concerns these two teams.

Leicester’s last victory against Manchester United was that 5-3 victory back in 2014. Since then, it makes for grim reading if you’re a Leicester fan. United are unbeaten in seven in all competitions, winning five of those games – including their last four in a row, scoring 11 goals and conceding only two.

It seems like that stats fancy a Manchester United victory on Saturday evening…

Prediction:

It’s all about getting the three points this weekend for both teams. Call me Michael Owen there, but what I mean is, the cup exits will definitely be on the minds of both sides coming into this and the chance of a hangover from that is more than likely.

Leicester have only lost twice under Claude Puel, the most recent of course being the 3-0 defeat at home to Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace. If Leicester were to lose their third game in a row, questions may start to be asked already. Unfortunately that’s football nowadays but football fans are fickle and I believe Puel is the right man to take us forward.

As I stated in the preview section, I do fancy goals this weekend.

Two attacking sides that both have defensive weaknesses means that this game can surely only go one way.

Now, if you remember the game from a few seasons ago where the Argentinian defensive midfield genius Esteban Cambiasso scored in Leicester’s 5-3 victory, then you may guess who I think may score this weekend.

Vincente Iborra to score in a score-draw.

Score Prediction:

Leicester City 2-2 Manchester United