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Attendance: 75,275
Manchester United logo
Premier League
May 1, 2016 at 2.05pm UK
 
Leicester logo

1-1

Martial (8')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Morgan (17')

Preview: Manchester United vs. Leicester City

Sports Mole previews Sunday's match between Manchester United and Leicester City at Old Trafford, where the Foxes would win the title with victory.

Leicester City could celebrate the greatest day in the club's history this weekend when they travel to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United.

The Foxes go into Sunday's match knowing that victory would clinch their first ever top-flight title following arguably the most remarkable season that English football has ever seen.


Man Utd

Black widow Louis van Gaal watches on during the Premier League game between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United on March 6, 2016© Getty Images

There will be no shortage of envious glances from the Old Trafford faithful when Leicester roll into town on Sunday afternoon.

Manchester United have been here and done it all before, but they have been forced to watch on from afar this season after it became evident early on that they wouldn't be able to keep pace with the flying Foxes.

In fairness, not many teams have, but the contrast between United and Leicester is greater than most considering the Red Devils' past Premier League dominance and where they find themselves now.

While Leicester have delighted fans with free-flowing, high-scoring football at times, and gritty 1-0 wins at others - both formerly hallmarks of Sir Alex Ferguson's all-conquering sides - United's supporters have found themselves continually bemoaning Louis van Gaal's slow and stodgy style.

It is hard to blame them for their frustrations either. United are the lowest scorers in the top nine of the table, and while their defensive record has been impressive - particularly at home where they have conceded just seven goals - the fact that no ground has seen fewer goals than Old Trafford this season is a tough one for the fans to digest.

The results themselves have not been too bad at home, and United actually boast the best points-per-game ratio in the entire league in front of their own fans, but their away form has let them down and left them playing catch-up for a top-four spot.

Five points is the gap to Manchester City and Arsenal, and while United do have a game in hand over the pair just above them in the table, that comes away to fellow European challengers West Ham United in what will be the last ever match at the Boleyn Ground.

Games against Norwich City and Bournemouth either side of that look easier on paper, but two wins from their final four games is unlikely to be good enough, so they could find themselves needing to spoil the party this weekend.

Recent signs have been better for the club, who are currently on a four-match winning streak and looking for five on the bounce for the first time since 2014. Six of their last seven games have ended as victories too, while they have only been beaten once in the last nine.

They also have an FA Cup final to look forward to following last weekend's dramatic Wembley win over Everton, putting the club within 90 minutes of their first trophy in the post-Ferguson era.

It is possible, then, that Van Gaal could end the campaign with silverware and a Champions League place, and while that may be enough to save his job, there is still no disguising that it has been a disappointing season.

United still need six points to ensure that they don't record their lowest-ever Premier League points tally, but they do go into Sunday's match having gone nine unbeaten at Old Trafford and with only two home defeats in 27 all season.

Recent form: LWWLWW
Recent form (all competitions): WLWWWW


Leicester

Riyad Mahrez celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Swansea on April 24, 2016© AFP

The talk of movies inspired by Leicester's meteoric rise from relegation favourites to the top of English football has been rife all season, and it is all set for the perfect Hollywood ending this weekend.

Script-writers wouldn't have got away with the story this far, but having it finish at Old Trafford - a ground which has seen more league titles than any other in English football - would usually be one final unbelievable twist too far.

As if the Foxes weren't underdogs enough, they will have to battle against one of the world's biggest clubs without their top-scorer after Jamie Vardy was hit with a further one-match ban for his reaction to the red card he received at West Ham United earlier this month.

Few people deserve to be involved in the crowning glory more than Vardy, but a fairytale isn't a fairytale without setbacks and Leicester made a mockery of claims that they would struggle without their star striker last time out.

Newly-crowned PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring against Swansea City, before Vardy's replacement Leonardo Ulloa weighed in with two goals and Marc Albrighton added the icing on the cake to seal a 4-0 triumph at the King Power Stadium - their biggest win of the season.

That made it nine games without defeat and a club-record 22 wins for the season, yet so unlikely is their story that it wasn't until Tottenham Hotspur slipped up against West Bromwich Albion on Monday night that Leicester made believers out of the whole country.

There is still work to be done for the Foxes, of course, and there is no guarantee that they will complete the job this weekend against an in-form United side, but having answered every question put to them so far, it is hard to believe that they will let it slip now.

They lead Spurs by seven points with just three games remaining, meaning that they only need three more points to guarantee the title, or for Tottenham to lose one of their remaining three matches.

Leicester will want to - and deserve to - finish the job themselves, though, and considering they boast comfortably the best away record in the league this season and have already beaten the likes of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur on their travels, they will be confident of wrapping things up on Sunday.

Reports have suggested that the 5,000-1 for Leicester to win the league will be the longest successful odds in any single event ever - sports or otherwise - and a win at Old Trafford would be the perfect way to end what is surely the greatest story in English football history.

Recent form: WWWWDW


Team News

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy kicks off after being sent off by Jonathan Moss on April 17, 2016© AFP

As already mentioned, Leicester will be without the 22-goal Vardy as he serves the final game of his suspension this weekend.

Ulloa could fill in once again following his brace, although the striker is suffering from a back injury and will be assessed closer to the time.

Claudio Ranieri must also decide whether or not to stick with Jeffrey Schlupp after he replaced Albrighton in the starting lineup last weekend.

PFA Team of the Year members Mahrez, N'Golo Kante and Wes Morgan will be involved, with the latter potentially getting his hands on the Premier League trophy at the final whistle.

Manchester United, meanwhile, will be without long-term absentees Bastian Schweinsteiger and Luke Shaw, while the match is also likely to come too soon for Adnan Januzaj.

The likes of Juan Mata, Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera will all be pushing for recalls having been left out of the starting XI for the weekend win at Wembley.

Leicester are one of only three Premier League clubs that Wayne Rooney has failed to score against as a Manchester United player, but should he end that record this weekend then he would become only the second person to score 100 Premier League goals at a single ground (Thierry Henry, 114 at Highbury).

However, the United skipper only has seven league goals this season and could fail to hit double figures for the first time in his 12-year career at the club.

Man Utd possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Fosu-Mensah, Smalling, Blind, Rojo; Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Mata, Rooney, Martial; Rashford

Leicester possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs; Mahrez, Kante, Drinkwater, Albrighton; Ulloa, Okazaki


Head To Head

United have only won one of their last three Premier League matches against Leicester having emerged victorious from each of their previous nine before that.

The Foxes haven't won at Old Trafford since January 1998, when Tony Cottee scored the only goal of the game, while Ranieri's record against United stands at two wins, five draws and two defeats from nine matches.

The reverse fixture this season ended in a 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium as Schweinsteiger cancelled out Vardy's opener - a goal that saw Vardy score in a record 11th consecutive league game.


The Dugout Podcast

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We say: Man Utd 0-1 Leicester

Considering United's fine defensive record at home this season and Leicester's six clean sheets in their last seven games, this may not be a goalfest. However, another 1-0 triumph would suit Leicester perfectly, and we can't bring ourselves to back against a fairytale ending for the Foxes.



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Leicester City duo Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez celebrate during a Premier League game on November 21, 2015
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