Premier League: Can Rodgers’ Outfox Rangnick?

Manchester United vs Leicester City

Manchester United welcome Leicester City for a Saturday teatime treat as the Premier League gets underway again after the international break.  

This game brings together two of the best tactical brains in the league as United interim boss Ralf Rangnick comes face-to-face with Leicester chief Brendan Rodgers. Neither is under pressure for their position, but then neither is where they want to be at the moment.

Rangnick has done a good job of steadying the ship at Old Trafford since taking over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but too many draws have left the Red Devils out of the top four and with an uphill climb ahead of them.

Meanwhile. the injury-hit Foxes had a terrible first half of the campaign but Rodgers’ has overseen an expected upturn in form, and Leicester now find themselves in the top half of the league table and going well in the Europa League.    

Last time out, the Red Devils were dumped out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid and so a top four place is the only remaining chance they have to join Europe’s elite next season. Meanwhile, after an Europa League aggregate win over Stade Rennes, Leicester City beat Brentford 2-1 to climb up to 10^th.

The pre-match Premier League 2022 odds have a lot of faith in the Red Devils, pricing them at 1.50 to beat the Foxes. But it all depends on which Manchester United turns up, the one which beat Tottenham in a five-goal thriller or the one which was humiliated by Manchester City?

The Foxes may sniff an opportunity at Old Trafford.  

Talking Points

United’s Maguire problem

There is no doubting the quality Rangnick has at his disposal, but some of his expensively assembled squad simply aren’t cutting it at the moment. And the biggest problem is the form of captain and centre-back Harry Maguire.  

That goalkeeper David De Gea is having his best season in years tells us that the protection the Spaniard is getting is not what he expects. The keeper’s form is top-four standard no doubt, but Maguire is having his most torrid time since his £80-M switch from Leicester in 2019.

He will not be looking forward to meeting his old mates in his current form and it can’t have helped that he was booed by England fans in midweek, only two weeks after he was jeered by United fans when he was benched during the defeat to Atletico.    

Head coach Ralf Rangnick will stick with Maguire as to drop him could prove devastating to the player and he’ll get a chance to turn things around.

But United’s top four challenge is coming under serious pressure from the two North London teams and time is running out. They currently sit four points behind the Gunners who have a game in hand. 

United’s other big guns are doing the business. The Portuguese pair of Cristiano Ronaldo with 12 goals and Bruno Fernandes with nine remain their biggest goal threats while midfielder Paul Pogba has made nine assists. The Red Devils need all three of those players in form to take on the confident Foxes. 

Vardy doubtful and Ndidi out for Leicester 

One piece of good Premier League 2022 news for the hosts is that Leicester top scorer Jamie Vardy picked up a new injury almost as soon as he came back from a long delay. He picked up a knock on his knee in the Foxes’ recent win over Leeds. And while progress has been good, it looks like this game may be a week too early for the prolific scorer.

That means two of Patson Daka, Ademola Lookman, and Kelechi Iheanacho are likely to get the nod with the support of attacking midfielders James Maddison, who is back on form with eight goals, and Harvey Barnes – a welcome return from injury – with seven assists.

But there will be no part to play for midfield general Wilfred Ndidi who has a knee injury which could see him out for the rest of the season. 

History

The head-to-heads make a happy reading for the Red Devils who have won 21 of the 34 meetings in the Premier League era, while Leicester have had just five wins and there have been eight draws.

The Foxes have had some success in recent times though, unbeaten in four and winning the last three, including an entertaining 4-2 victory at the King Power Stadium in October. 

The Red Devils thought they had a late equaliser when Marcus Rashford scored on 82 minutes.

But strikes from Vardy and Daka gave Leicester a victory which ended Manchester United’s record run of 29 league games unbeaten away from home and dropped then out of the top four places.  

Betting Tip

Leicester City are at SBOTOP odds of 5.41 to win and the draw is at 4.07. The Foxes have some key injuries and have not been at their best on the road, and a Manchester United Asian Handicap of -1.00 at odds of 1.86 will attract the home fans but I’m not so confident.

 

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