Leicester vs Man Utd Preview and Betting Tip

The FA Cup quarter finals take centre stage this weekend and the tie of the round is Leicester vs Man Utd. It kicks off at 5 pm and you can watch it live on BBC1. The Foxes cruised through the earlier rounds beating Stoke, Brentford and Brighton. The Red Devils have had to negotiate some trickier ties to get to this stage with wins vs Watford, Liverpool and West Ham.

These two teams are fighting it out for a Champions League spot in the EPL but both managers would love to win this trophy. Can Brendan Rodgers get his first win vs Man Utd since taking over at Leicester? Or can Ole’s reds make it to yet another semi-final? Whatever happens it should be an exciting encounter, check out our preview and betting tip below…

Injury Hit Leicester

Leicester City deserve plenty of credit for their performances in recent weeks. They have suffered a raft of injuries at a crucial stage of the season but they are still managing to dig out results. Their 3-1 defeat vs Arsenal set the alarm bells ringing but they have bounced back with a draw at Burnley and wins against Brighton and Sheffield Utd. Man Utd will represent a much tougher test though and it has been a long time since the Foxes have tasted success against the Red Devils.

The Leicester injury list includes James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Cengiz Under and James Justin. Ricardo Pereira is also a doubt. Luckily for Rodgers, Iheanacho has stepped up to the plate. He fired in a hat-trick in the 5-0 win vs Sheffield United and he has now scored five in his last three matches. Vardy is available for selection too and he is capable of giving any defence headaches.

However, the two men that make this Leicester team tick are Ndidi and Tielemans in central midfield. They will most likely be up against Fred, McTominay or possibly Nemanja Matic if Solskjaer decides to shuffle his pack. If The Foxes can win the battle in midfield it will go a long way towards securing them the result they need. The fact that they have had a week off since their last match is a huge plus and Leicester fans will be hoping it makes all the difference on Sunday evening.

No Respite For Utd

The last few weeks have been absolutely relentless for Manchester United. The longest gap they have had between matches since the start of February is just five days. They have played 12 games in that period and they had a tough match against AC Milan in Italy on Thursday night. They secured their place in the quarter finals of the Europa League with a 1-0 win at the San Siro but it came at a cost.

Marcus Rashford was withdrawn at half time and he looked like he was carrying an injury. That is a big blow for Utd as the rest of their front three has struggled to score goals. However, the return of Paul Pogba will give them a timely boost and he made an instant impact after coming on at half-time against Milan. He got the vital goal and his overall display was very encouraging.

Although Utd have looked rather tired in the last few weeks, their defensive play has been top class. It is no coincidence that Maguire and Lindelof have looked a lot more confident since Dean Henderson replaced David De Gea in the team. Utd have conceded just one goal in seven games with Henderson between the sticks, keeping six clean sheets. If Utd are going to win this match they’ll need to put in another solid defensive effort and hope that they can nick a goal at the other end.

Leicester vs Man Utd Head-To-Head

Man Utd have an excellent recent record against Leicester. When the chips were down on the final day of last season and there was a Champions League slot up for grabs, Utd came away with a crucial 2-0 victory. In fact, Leicester haven’t managed to beat Utd since that crazy day at the King Power in September 2014 when they fought back from 3-1 down to beat Louis Van Gaal’s Utd 5-3.

Mentality Questions

As I mentioned earlier, Leicester have had seven days off since their last match. Man Utd have had just three and that could make a huge difference on Sunday. Man Utd just haven’t got the depth in their squad to rotate as much as Solskjaer would probably like and the likes of Fernandes, Rashford, Fred, McTominay, Wan Bissaka and Maguire have played a massive amount of football in the last 8 weeks or so.

Leicester are missing players too but they will have far fresher legs. However, have they got the mentality to produce the goods when it matters? Brendan Rodgers’ side came up short when the pressure was on last season against Utd and I am not sure about their ability to produce the goods when there is lots at stake.

The last meeting between the teams finished 2-2 with Leicester equalising late on. However, Man Utd are defending a lot better now than they were at that stage of the season and The Foxes may well struggle to break them down. Fernandes and Pogba are capable of creating or scoring that vital goal that could be enough for the visitors to nick the win. Man Utd to win to nil is the recommended bet at odds of 7/2 with Bet365.  

Leicester vs Man Utd Tips: Man Utd to win To nil @ 7/2 Bet365

Key Quotes – Leicester vs Man Utd

Brendan Rodgers – “We want to create our own history here. The club getting to four finals and not getting over the line, we would love to be the first. There’s a difficult step first. You have to have an eye on the history of a club and understand that. But this team wants to create their own history.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – “I spoke earlier about trophies and it can hide sometimes what you’re doing in the background but for me, I feel we’re improving all the time and getting closer. To win a trophy could be a boost for everyone, yes, it would be.”

Dave Stevos