Leicester City and Manchester United both suffered very different types of EFL Cup exits in midweek. They will each be keen to respond at the weekend. While Leicester’s defeat was less of a shock than United’s, the manner of it was more galling watching on from a neutral perspective.
With their Premier League status all but secured, Claude Puel decided against using Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez from the start. When they were introduced, there was a big difference made against a second-string City side, although, somewhat ironically, the duo missed critical penalties in the shootout that saw the Foxes eliminated.
Indeed, the buzz that has enveloped the King Power Stadium in recent weeks has lifted. Not only did they lose to City in such irritating circumstances, they were hammered 3-0 at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday too.
Jose Mourinho will smell blood. The Portuguese loves to rub it in and at the end of a week that would have started with immense excitement for Leicester, he’ll be drilling into his side how important it is to make the Foxes\’ Christmas miserable. Yet Mourinho has issues of his own to contend with after the dramatic loss to Bristol City on Wednesday.
That night there was a lacklustre streak in United’s play and some undesirable sequences of defending. To concede late on with Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford on the field was a huge disappointment for the Red Devils. But United will be confident of shrugging it off, and so far this season Mourinho’s side have responded well to defeats.
Crucially, a more familiar defensive setup will be in place, underpinned by the exceptional David De Gea between the sticks. The tremendous midfield axis offered by Pogba and Nemanja Matic will also return for the first time since United produced that brilliant 3-1 win at Arsenal; the Frenchman has served the three-game suspension he picked up in that match.
And Romelu Lukaku, while he’s cutting a grumpy figure up front at the moment, is back among the goals in the Premier League, with two headers netted in his last two games.
What United will also do well is deny Leicester the chance to do things they do well. At times the visitors will be happy to surrender possession and sit. They’ll cut off the spaces infield and out wide that Mahrez loves to roam into. And at the first sight of Vardy bursting in behind, they’ll retreat to prevent the game becoming stretched.
Of course, halting Leicester’s two talismen will be easier said than done. Nevertheless, it’s the kind of encounter in which Puel may look to some players in a more peripheral first-team role to make a difference. If Wilfried Ndidi can lock down midfield and Demarai Gray is on one of his good days — on which he is excellent — they too could be decisive.
What both teams also have to consider is the mass of matches that will follow this one. Neither, you sense, will consider rotating their XI for this fixture, although there may be spells in the match, especially late on, where both sides sit back and surrender the initiative.
With that in mind, and given both sides will feel most effective when they can win the ball back and transition, this is unlikely to be a festive thriller. There’s enough quality on the pitch for both teams to break through, but there’s also enough awareness in both camps to know that a draw would be a fine result for either side at this point in the campaign.
Tips:
1-1 draw (7.50 William Hill)
Under 2.5 goals (1.85 William Hill)
Romelu Lukaku to score anytime (2.10 Boyle Sports)
Calculators
