If third place Manchester United can achieve a positive result at second-place Leicester City on Boxing Day, then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a legitimate title contender on his hands. United have a game in hand on the two teams above them, and they haven’t been a serious title contender since 2013.
Central defender Victor Lindelof, playing through the pain for the past few weeks, threw some cold water on the title talk: “the most important thing for us is that we’re focusing on one game at a time and that’s what we’ve been doing lately.”
Manchester United at Leicester City FYIs
Kick off: 12:30pm GMT, Boxing Day
United Starting XI Prediction: go here
TV (US): NBCSN, Stream: NBCSports.com
Odds: Leicester (+185), United (+135) Draw (+245)
“I think we have been performing good and also we have got some good results,” Lindelof continued.
“The main thing for us is just to keep working hard, keep focusing on the next game and that’s the thing, but obviously when you win games you gain more confidence and that’s what we’ve been doing lately.”
Team News
Leicester, one point ahead of United and four points behind table toppers Liverpool, may not have Caglar Soyuncu fit for this game, due to a groin issue. Ditto for Ricardo Pereira, although his groin problem is more severe, so he is definitely ruled commission.
Flipping over to United, they could be without both defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka and midfielder Scott McTominay who both picked up groin injuries in the win against Leeds United.
Said Solskjaer of McTominay and Wan-Bissaka being officially ruled out ahead of the EFL Cup win over Everton: “Hopefully, it won’t be too long. Apart from that, I think everyone is, more or less, okay.”
Marcos Rojo (calf) and Phil Jones (knee) remain out as long term injury absentees.
Leicester 1, United 1
This certainly seems like a split the spoils kind of match, as we’ll have two sides that look really strong right now.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.