Manchester United vs Leicester City news: Home form gives Red Devils the edge

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) celebrates scoring his hat trick goal and his sides third goal of the game during the Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester.

Manchester United's exit from the Champions League means they can now go all out in their nine remaining Premier League fixtures to try secure a place in Europe's elite club competition.

The Red Devils will welcome recent bogey team Leicester City to Old Trafford this Saturday evening. Victory for the Foxes would secure consecutive away league successes against Manchester United for the first time, having won this fixture 2-1 last season.

A 4-2 win in the reverse fixture back in October also means Leicester can complete their first Premier League double over United.

When: Saturday, April 2, 17:30 BST

Where: Old Trafford

How to watch: Sky Sports

Follow this game via our score centre

Who is the referee for Manchester United v Leicester City

Andre Marriner was appointed a Select Group referee in 2005 and has so far officiated 373 Premier League matches, distributing 60 red cards - albeit his most recent was shown to Gary Cahill for Bournemouth in a 1-0 win at Barnsley in the Championship on January 29 - and 1,153 yellows in total.

Season stats in 2021/2022: Games (22), Yellow cards (70) and Red cards (3)

Assistants: Darren Cann, Ian Hussin

Fourth official: Martin Atkinson

VAR: Michael Oliver

Assistant VAR: Simon Long

Recent form

Manchester United's elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid means they have only nine games left in the Premier League to try and secure a place at Europe's top table next season.

The Reds have only won one of their last five games in all competitions - a dramatic 3-2 victory over Tottenham at Old Trafford on March 12 thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick - and it will be 21 days since their last appearance in the top flight when this fixtures comes around.

A packed April sees United take on Liverpool and Arsenal in the race to secure qualification for the Champions League and they will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run at home to six against Brendan Rodgers' men.

The Foxes have suffered from an injury-affected campaign while Covid-19 cases meant five of their games over the festive period were called off.

The Midlands outfit are currently in 10th - 18 points behind Arsenal in fourth spot - but signed off before the international break with a 2-1 win over Brentford and will take on PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League following their trip to Old Trafford.

They have won only one of their last eight away in the Premier League.

Recent players in form

Cristiano Ronaldo continues to defy his age of 37 and remains the principal goal-threat for United.

He has 12 goals from 21 starts in the Premier league so far this season and he arrives back to M16 with his tail up having helped Portugal secure a place at the World Cup in Qatar thanks to a brace from United team-mate Bruno Fernandes in a 2-0 win over North Macedonia.

Jamie Vardy has scored three goals in his last four appearances in all competitions for Leicester City while influential playmaker James Maddison is on eight for the season so far in the top flight and scored the winner against Brentford before the international break.

Past meetings

Leicester City are unbeaten in their last three meetings in all competitions against Manchester United and back in October secured a 4-2 win at King Power Stadium with goals from Youri Tielemans, Caglar Soyuncu, Jamie Vardy, and Patson Daka.

United will be targeting a first win in this fixture since July 2020 while the Foxes have outscored United 8-5 during their unbeaten streak.

Çağs' last two matches against Man Utd ⚽ ⚽#MunLei pic.twitter.com/Q1Be5JO3BU
— Leicester City (@LCFC) March 30, 2022

Managers' thoughts

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers on the challenge of facing United: "They have top-class players who can change the course of the game. We have a good record against them recently. You have to play at the highest level tactically. They are playing at home so we have to be aggressive."

Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick on Harry Maguire facing boos from England fans: "I speak regularly [to Maguire] since I have been here, so he knows my position towards him. He has been a very valuable player and the captain of the team and the club, and also my captain.

"I did not understand what was going on at Wembley. I am pretty sure that will not happen in our stadium, with the Red Army behind the team, the club, and also our captain. For me, he is a very important player, he has been playing well for Manchester United and for England in the last couple of years."

Predicted teams

Marc Albrighton, Jamie Vardy, Danny Ward and Ryan Bertrand will need to be assessed before Saturday, but the headline absentee for Leicester City is Wilfred Ndidi.

The midfield powerhouse missed Nigeria's World Cup qualifiers against Ghana because of a knee injury and is likely to miss out.

Luke Shaw has missed United's last three games but scored England's equaliser in Saturday's 2-1 win against Switzerland and is likely to feature.

Veteran striker Edinson Cavani sustained an injury for Uruguay in the first half of their 2-0 win over Chile and is a doubt.

Preparing for Saturday's #PL clash ?#MUFC | #MUNLEI pic.twitter.com/rqgD2Vq4Ql
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 30, 2022

Manchester United vs Leicester City prediction

Manchester United's home form gives them the slight edge in this fixture but Ralf Rangnick's men are difficult to trust in a season riddled with inconsistency.

Throw in Leicester City's underwhelming away form and it is tough to build a case for the visitors.

The visit to King Power Stadium of PSV in the Europa Conference League five days later could determine how the Foxes finish the season, while United can at least focus all of their efforts on ending the domestic campaign with no distractions before a likely summer of wholesale changes.