Manchester United will once again be reunited with Ruud van Nistelrooy today as they face Leicester City in the Premier League.
Ruben Amorim’s side will be going in search of back-to-back wins after Thursday’s demolition of Real Sociedad. United knew they needed to book their place in the quarter finals of the Europa League to keep their season alive and they did so in emphatic style with a 4-1 victory over the La Liga outfit.
Today it’s back to Premier League action as they look to avoid slipping even further down the table. United have already beaten the Foxes three times this season, winning the Old Trafford league meeting 3-0 back in November as well as knocking them out of both the League Cup and the FA Cup.
Amorim provided a team news update on Thursday and confirmed Mason Mount could be named on the bench at the King Power Stadium. It is unclear whether Harry Maguire will be fit enough to return from injury and Patrick Dorgu will miss out as he serves the final game of his three-game domestic suspension.
Here’s how our writers think United should line up this afternoon:
Samuel Luckhurst
United do not play for 16 games after today and they had their best performance of the season in midweek, so it would be churlish to needlessly rotate. Matthijs de Ligt, Ayden Heaven, Casemiro and Joshua Zirkzee will not be on international duty this month, either.
Manuel Ugarte has not played in two weeks and there is no need to rush him back when Casemiro has just had his best week of the season. The front three are goal-shy but contributed to the Sociedad victory and will be up against the league’s second-worst defence.
Tyrone Marshall
Amorim will have to rotate in the league when the Europa League quarter-finals come around, but for now he can go strong, with an international break next week and two-and-a-half weeks until the next game.
It’s a chance to build some momentum from Thursday’s performance as well. To that end, Heaven deserves to stay in the team and the only defensive change is Lindelof replacing Dorgu, who serves the final games of his domestic suspension. Mazraoui reverts to wing-back.
Casemiro was tired at the end of Thursday night and he can get a rest. There is no need to risk Ugarte either and Collyer deserves a start next to Fernandes. Zirkzee is in good form and can go again alongside Garnacho, with Hojlund leading the line. His general play was good against Real Sociedad but he desperately needs a goal.
