On Friday night, Manchester United will play Leicester City at Old Trafford in the fourth round of the FA Cup. This move comes after the club experienced their worst run of home form in 131 years over the previous weekend.
Ruben Amorim’s five losses in seven home league games are already more than his countryman Jose Mourinho managed in two and a half years at the club, and he needs to make amends for that run here against their fellow Premier League strugglers. Ruben Amorim already has more losses than Jose Mourinho did overall.
The run of form that Manchester United has been experiencing is so poor that it has not been this bad since the 19th century. This run of form began with a loss to Crystal Palace by a score of 2-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Palace have all come to the Theatre of Dreams and won with little fuss. This is in contrast to Amorim, who has earned famous victories at Manchester City and Arsenal in the third round of this competition.
Due to the fact that the Red Devils are still in the bottom half of the standings, they are currently in 13th place, just three points above Everton, who is in 16th place. This means that the FA Cup and the Europa League will most likely be the only ways for the club to return to Europe.
Considering that they have not lost any of their last 18 FA Cup matches at Old Trafford in regular time – winning 16 of them – this is a favourable draw for the hosts, and the fact that they are playing at home should also be beneficial. The last time an away team won at Old Trafford was Arsenal in the 2014–2015 season.
In addition, Leicester is a team that Manchester United has already defeated on multiple occasions this season. It is interesting to note that the manager of the opposing team was the one who was responsible for both of those victories for Manchester United.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was an assistant coach for Manchester United during their victories in the English Football League Cup (EFL Cup) and the Premier League (Premier League) by scores of 5-2 and 3-0, respectively, before he later became the manager of Leicester.
After winning the first two FA Cup meetings with the Foxes, Man United lost the most recent one in 2021, with Leicester winning a quarter-final clash at the King Power on their way to lifting the trophy that season. This gives Man United the opportunity to defeat a club three times at home in a single season for the first time in their history. However, after winning the earlier two FA Cup meetings with the Foxes, Man United lost the most recent one.
In the previous season, Leicester was eliminated from the Championship as a club by Chelsea in the quarterfinals. However, the team’s morale is nowhere near as high as it was in the previous season, and despite the difficulties that Manchester United is experiencing, the Foxes are in even worse form.
Especially after being brought back down to earth at Goodison Park the previous weekend, it seems like it would be a stretch for them to even extend their current winning streak of seven games from their last eight fourth-round ties.
Everton defeated Leicester by a score of 4-0, allowing the Toffees to move nine points ahead of Leicester in the battle to avoid being relegated. This defeat came just one week after Leicester accomplished a remarkable victory away from home against Tottenham Hotspur.
As a result of Wolves’ victory over Aston Villa at home later that same day, the club fell back into the bottom three after a streak of eight losses in nine games. Furthermore, there were no notable additions made in the transfer market, which made Van Nistelrooy’s job significantly more difficult.
Amorim’s wish for a striker was not granted, just days after he selected Kobbie Mainoo as a false nine over Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. Marcus Rashford left Manchester United at the end of the transfer window, while Alejandro Garnacho remained with the club. However, Amorim’s wish for a striker was not granted.
After suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear during the match against Palace last weekend, Lisandro Martinez’s season has come to an end. He joins Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans, and Mason Mount on the sidelines, and Tyrell Malacia has left for PSV Eindhoven on loan following his departure.
Man United’s predicted lineup for their match against Wolves is [3-4-2-1]: Marcus Rashford is back, and three other players have been removed. Ruben Amorim has called Marcus Rashford back despite the fact that he has removed three other players.
Altay Bayindir is also set for a rare start, especially after his heroics in the third-round victory over Arsenal. Patrick Dorgu, who joined as one of their late signings in the window, could make his debut here. Altay Bayindir is also set to make his debut here.
The weekend before last, Mads Hermansen returned from a six-week layoff at Everton. However, he has not participated in either of the cup competitions so far, which means that Jakub Stolarczyk could be restored to the starting lineup for this match.
In spite of the fact that Ricardo Pereira and Abdul Fatawu are still sidelined with long-term injuries, Wilfred Ndidi is getting closer and closer to making a comeback from his thigh injury.
Following their disastrous performance against Everton, Van Nistelrooy may decide to adopt a more offensive strategy. As a result, Facundo Buonanotte and Stephy Mavididi may be draughted in to play wide, and Jannik Vestergaard is likely to lose his position in the starting lineup.
A possible starting lineup for Manchester United would consist of Bayindir, Mazraoui, Maguire, and De Ligt; Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, and Dorgu; Amad, Hojlund, and Fernandes were also included.
Stolarczyk, Coulibaly, Coady, Okoli, and Kristiansen; Soumare, Skipp; Buonanotte, El Khannouss, and Mavididi; Daka are some of the players that could enter the starting lineup for Leicester City.
