Manchester United have just reached the quarterfinals of the Europa League, where they will face off with Granada, but now it is time for a different quarterfinal. It is time for FA Cup and Man United will be traveling to Leicester, to play against the Foxes at their King Power Stadium.
It will be an interesting affair against Brendan Rodgers’ side and Man United will have the chance to reach their fifth semifinal under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Here is everything you need to know ahead of this clash.
Team News
Leicester will be without a lot of players for this one. James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Wes Morgan, James Justin and Cengiz Under will weaken Rodgers’ options, while Ricardo Pereira is also expected to miss out.
As far as Man United are concerned, things are getting better after Paul Pogba’s return to the team in Milan and Donny van de Beek’s improving situation. However, Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani could miss out yet again which could mean Mason Greenwood gets another start up front. Eric Bailly is a doubt too, while we know Juan Mata and Phil Jones will not be able to help.
Form Guide
As far as Leicester are concerned, they are on the rise again. After losing to Slavia Praha in Europa League round of 32, they also lost 3-1 to Arsenal at their turf and it seemed as if they were starting to slip up. But then, after a 1-1 draw in Burnley, they won against Brighton 2-1 and Sheffield United 5-0. And what we have now are Leicester sitting in third, just one point behind Man United.
There will be nine more matches in the league for Leicester to try and keep up, but this time they will want to get to the last four in the FA Cup. Leicester are a truly tricky side when playing at home, as they defeated Liverpool 3-1 in February and Chelsea 2-0 in January. They drew 2-2 against United on Boxing Day and just before that, they also defeated Tottenham in London. There is every reason to believe this match will be a really tough one.
If Leicester are on the rise, then United are in even better situation. After a crisis of being unable to break teams down and score goals, they have won their last two Premier League matches and eliminated Milan from Europa League. Also, the last time United conceded a goal away from home was on Valentines Day, which is a telling stat for Solskjaer’s side.
Predicted Outcome
Manchester United will win after extra-time. A somewhat bold prediction this is, because the Devils are a team known that can need more time to get to the result they ultimately want. Also, there is that feeling that United can be a side that gets to play even longer matches when they need them the least. But nevertheless, this team is on a high and despite problems posed by Leicester, they should have enough about them to resolve them and book their place in the semis.
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