SUGGESTED STARTING XIs: Manchester United look to go fifth with win over Leicester City
By Ollie Slack
Manchester United dropped their first points under new interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Tuesday evening against fourth-bottom Burnley, but a win today against Leicester would send them momentarily above Arsenal into fifth. Who will Solskjaer pick to clinch the three points?
Ali Akbar
Phil Jones was the weakest part of our defence against Burnley, so Eric Bailly should start instead to see if he can be a better centre-back partner for Lindelof.
Andreas Pereira was diabolical in midfield against the Clarets, having been responsible for United going 1-0 down. Ander Herrera should start next to Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba instead to form what I think is the best midfield in the league right now.
Romelu Lukaku wasn’t great up top last week but he should be given another chance, this time on the right wing – where he was so devastating against Arsenal. Instead, Marcus Rashford should start at centre-forward with Anthony Martial on the left.
David de Gea
Ashley Young, Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw
Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba
Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial
Ollie Slack
My team selections are getting rather boring, but with the chances of getting into the top four now very much on the time for “giving players a chance” is over. United need to win football matches so should be playing their strongest XI every game.
Pereira had a day to forget against Burnley, an opportunity to show what he has got and he didn’t really grasp it. Hopefully, for his sake, he will have more opportunities to impress towards the end of the season. But, for now, Ander Herrera comes back in.
I’m not sure why Solskjaer keeps tinkering with his forward line. United’s best front three throughout his short time here has been Lingard, Rashford and Martial. Why change?
The only other option I thought about, was whether or not to shift Rashford out to the right and play Lingard as a false nine again, to exploit space in behind. But, I think this Leicester team, under Claude Puel, will be happy to sit in for most of the game, meaning United need a figurehead to spear their attack in Marcus Rashford.
David de Gea
Ashley Young, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw
Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba
Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial