
Ruud van Nistelrooy surely wishes Leicester City’s upcoming fixture against his former employers Manchester United had less riding on it. Defeat on Sunday could spell the end for the Dutchman as the Foxes boss.
It has not worked out for Van Nistelrooy at the King Power Stadium up to now, as the Dutchman has lost all but four of his 17 matches in charge.
Leicester’s last five league matches have resulted in defeats to nil. That leaves them six points adrift in the relegation zone, with a much worse goal difference than those currently safe.
It was only a 1-0 defeat away at Chelsea last time out, but it seemed inevitable that the home side would prevail. Leicester played with a back three that afternoon, and may do so again versus the Red Devils.
The bad times have outweighed the good so far for Ruben Amorim at Man United, but a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad to advance to the last eight of the Europa League may have kickstarted his Old Trafford tenure.
Lyon await in the quarter-finals, and that is the biggest game of the season for the Red Devils. As far as the league is concerned, it is simply about pride. They sit 14th, eight points off the top half.
It won’t get much easier domestically either, as after the trip to Leicester, United face Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and Newcastle United.
Man United knocked Leicester out of both cup competitions this term, and also beat them 3-0 in the league at Old Trafford.
Van Nistelrooy was in the United dugout as caretaker boss for the League Cup tie in October, which the Red Devils won 5-2, and the league match two weeks later, which ended 3-0. Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho were on the scoresheet on both occasions.
His first visit to Manchester as Leicester manager ended in a narrow FA Cup defeat, as Bobby Decordova-Reid gave the visitors a first half lead but second half efforts from Joshua Zirkzee and Harry Maguire broke Foxes hearts.
Man United have got the better of Leicester as of late, which is unsurprising given how poorly the Foxes have fared this term.
Leicester rarely score, but the Red Devils find it hard to keep clean sheets.
The best for this fixture is a bet builder featuring Noussair Mazraoui to commit a foul and Andre Onana to make two or more saves.
Mazraoui has been a reliable player for committing fouls in his first season at United. The Moroccan has obliged in nine consecutive starts, being penalised 19 times in those matches.
We can not be sure whether he will start in the back three or at wing-back, but it doesn’t really matter. In this nine-game stretch, his fouls committed at centre-back are 1, 3, 1, 3, 1, 3. At wing-back, it is 2, 3, 2.
The other part of this bet involves Onana saves. He has made two or more in 15 of his last 17 appearances, with one of those exceptions coming against 10-man Ipswich, and the other being Brighton’s 3-1 win at Old Trafford.
It will all come down to whether Leicester can spring him into action. They have done so in the other head-to-heads this term. Onana made five saves against Leicester in the 3-0 league success, and two in the 2-1 victory in the FA Cup.
The League Cup encounter in October saw second-string United goalkeeper Altay Bayındır make five saves. The Foxes have forced two or more saves in each of their last five games, including defeats by Chelsea and Arsenal.
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