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Man United vs Leicester City: United look to punish faltering Foxes

A timely Leicester win would all but secure a Champions League place for next season.

When: Tuesday, May 11, 18:00 GMT

How to watch: BT Sport

Best bets

Edinson Cavani to score a header at 14/1 (SkyBet)

Half time/ Full time - Draw/ Man United at 5/1 (PaddyPower)

Man United to win 2-1 at 10/1 (bet365)

Contrasting performances

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reaction to preventing Man City lifting the trophy this weekend was: "At least I don't drive into a blue army tonight."

Manchester United, for a record tenth time in a Premier League season, came from a losing position and turned it into a victory. The 3-1 win against Aston Villa kept Man City's champagne on ice and moved Solskjaer's side within 10 points of their rivals.

Attention now turns to Leicester, a side they face just 52 hours after kicking off against Aston Villa in what is a hectic run of fixtures. Only victory will keep United with any mathematical chance of catching the runaway leaders.

Marc Albrighton promises no repeat of Leicester collapse

Leicester helped Manchester United in their quest of finishing second by playing out arguably their worst game under Brendan Rodgers, losing 4-2 to lowly Newcastle United.

Rodgers is relying on his team to react in a positive manner and a team such as Man United might just be ideal opponents to bounce back against.

Last three Premier League meetings:

Leicester City 2-2 Man United (December 26, 2020)

Boxing Day's clash produced late drama as Axel Tuanzebe's 85th minute own goal rescued a point for Leicester. This came just moments after Bruno Fernandes thought he had won the game for his side.

Marcus Rashford missed a glorious chance when given a free header but redeemed himself shortly after, when a loose ball made its way to the attacker he made no mistake.

Leicester pressed looking for a goal and were rewarded when Harvey Barnes unleashed a left-footed strike from outside the box.

Edinson Cavani played through Fernandes who comfortably slotted in to put United 2-1 up. However, moments later Jamie Vardy's shot was played at by Tuanzebe and the unfortunate defender put into his own goal.

Leicester City 0-2 Man United (July 26, 2020)

The away team secured Champions League qualification with the win over Leicester in the last game of a disrupted season.

An uncharacteristic mistake from Kasper Schmeichel secured the win for the Manchester team, with Jesse Lingard capitalising on the defensive mess that Leicester created in added time.

Before that, Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty after Anthony Martial was tripped in the Leicester box. The home side lacked any real endeavour to get themselves back in the match.

Man United 1-0 Leicester (September 14, 2019)

A Marcus Rashford penalty put an end to the Foxes' unbeaten start to the season, with Man United leapfrogging their opponents in the league table too.
The penalty was converted in the eighth minute and occurred when Caglar Soyuncu tripped Rashford.
The young attacker was involved in all the action and almost had his second of the game in the second half. His free-kick from long range clattered against the angle of post and crossbar but was not accurate enough.

Premier League head-to-head:

Played: 29

Man United wins: 19

Drawn: 8

Leicester City wins: 2

Man United scored: 62

Leicester scored: 24

Slow starters

Manchester United have gone behind in three of their last four Premier League games (versus Aston Villa, Tottenham and Brighton), which usually would be a cause for concern. However, as we have become accustomed to, Solskjaer's team thrive off going a goal down and can never be written off.

Leicester too have been slow off the mark in recent games. In their last game, they were 4-0 down against Newcastle before they decided to attempt to mount a comeback and got the score back to 4-2.

Man United were made to work by Roma last week

In their last away game too, they struggled to break the deadlock. The Foxes failed to capitalise on a red card for Southampton and even went 1-0 down before clawing back a draw.

When they faced Crystal Palace at home, Wilfried Zaha scored within 15 minutes to put the Eagles into a lead, but Rodgers' men did battle back to secure all three points late on.

Scoreline prediction: Man United 2-1 Leicester

I can see a slow start to the match and the potential of a goalless first half due to several factors. These being the hectic schedules, fatigue, neither team wanting to concede first and both teams being better second-half performers.
Manchester United are in a good rhythm at present and are also on a 12-game unbeaten run against Leicester in the Premier League. The Foxes will take heart from the fact they defeated Tuesday's opponents 3-1 in the FA Cup in March.

Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho (left) celebrates with Jamie Vardy (right)

Leicester pose a threat with their fire-power but I expect the home team to narrowly come away with the win, taking into account how deadly Cavani and Co. have been recently.

Goalscorer bets

As previously mentioned, Edinson Cavani is in a real hot vein of form and after coming off the bench against Aston Villa. He may well be handed a start at Old Trafford.

The Uruguayan is 2/1 to score at anytime with bet365 and 14/1 to score a header with SkyBet.

Man United striker Edinson Cavani

James Maddison is the other player to watch. He has not hit his best form since returning from injury but has now had a few games to get back into the swing of things and work his way into the England squad.

Maddison is good value at 19/5 to score with Unibet.

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