Aaron Wan-Bissaka cuts inside James Maddison.

Early team news for Leicester decider

Thursday 23 July 2020 13:00

It all comes down to Manchester United's crunch game with Leicester City on Sunday as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Reds chase the positive result that will seal a top-four place and subsequent qualification for next season's Champions League.

The Reds have eaten up the ground on a Foxes side that did look Liverpool's main title challengers much earlier in the campaign, and now sit in third place with one game to go.

Everything is now in our hands going into a contest with a team that poses a real threat, including the Premier League's top goalscorer in Jamie Vardy. However, home manager Brendan Rodgers will be without some key individuals due to suspension and injury as we await an update from Ole on Friday regarding United's team plans.

The state of play in the Premier League

 Article

What's left to resolve on the final day, as United seek a place in next season's Champions League.

UNITED TEAM NEWS

Eric Bailly was forced to miss the draw with West Ham United after sustaining a head injury in the Emirates FA Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea, joining Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe on the sidelines. We are hoping for an update on Luke Shaw, who injured his ankle in the 2-2 draw with Southampton and has been out since then. Brandon Williams has been deputising after missing the win at Crystal Palace following a cut to his eye.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka had a slight knock but replaced Tim Fosu-Mensah during the interval on Wednesday and performed well in the second half. 

The million-dollar question is whether Ole will freshen things up or produce a tactical tweak for the crunch clash. There are a number of options to potentially provide added energy in midfield, such as Scott McTominay or Fred, or the boss may stick to his tried and tested 4-2-3-1 formation.

With the stakes so high, he will be trusting his players to get the job done on the day.

LEICESTER TEAM NEWS

The story from the Foxes' camp appears more concrete as we know centre-back Caglar Soyuncu is suspended, following his red card at Bournemouth. Playmaker James Maddison and influential defenders Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira look to be unavailable until next season due to injury, and another full-back option, Christian Fuchs, is a long-term absentee.

Daniel Amartey is also sidelined but there is a chance Marc Albrighton could return to the squad. Youngster Luke Thomas has been introduced to the side, while George Hirst, son of one-time United transfer target David, came on for the second half at Tottenham.

Former Red Jonny Evans featured alongside Wes Morgan and Ryan Bennett in a three-man central defence against Spurs.

90 in 20: United 1 West Ham 1 Video

90 in 20: United 1 West Ham 1

Check out the extended highlights of Wednesday’s draw at Old Trafford, which takes us into the top four…

Sunday's game, a 16:00 BST kick-off like all of the top-flight matches, comes a whopping 316 days (10 months 12 days) since the reverse fixture at Old Trafford, when Marcus Rashford's early penalty earned a 1-0 victory.

The line-ups on that day were:

United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Young; McTominay, Matic; A.Pereira, Mata, James; Rashford: Subs: Fred, Tuanzebe, Chong.

Leicester: Schmeichel; R. Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell; Ndidi; Gray, Tielemans, Choudhury, Maddison; Vardy. Subs: Barnes, Perez.

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All of your ongoing efforts to support us from home are appreciated, giving us the best chance of protecting the health of everyone in our community.

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