When Manchester United travel to Leicester City on Championship Sunday, the match will serve as de facto UEFA Champions League play-in game of sorts. First up of all the FYIs for this match, is the list of UCL qualification scenarios for the teams still in contention.
Third place United are in with a win or draw or a Chelsea loss at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Fourth place Chelsea will clinch a slot with a win, a draw or a loss, but only if United win. Fifth place Leicester City need a win or draw and a Chelsea loss.
Got all that?
If so, or even if not, let’s move on to the team news for this one.
Leicester City will be sans Caglar Soyuncu who is suspended. Also out, this time due to injury, United transfer target/midfield maestro James Maddison and Chelsea transfer target/elite defender Ben Chilwell. Ricardo Pereira reamins out while Marc Albrighton is a slight doubt.
Shifting over to United, they could be without first teamer Luke Shaw at left back, and if so that could be a major issue, given how poorly Brandon Williams looked last night against West Ham.
Having Aaron Wan-Bissaka locking it down at right back on Sunday would help a lot, as perhaps Timothy Fosu-Mensah will get the nod on the left flank against the visitors. Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe are still out for the remainder.
Championship Sunday FYIs
Kickoff: 4pm BST/11am ET, July 26, King Power Stadium
MUFC Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
TV/streaming: NBC, NBCSports.com
Odds: United (+123) Leicester (+220), Draw (+245)
Prediction: Leicester 2, United 2
Although United are favored, it’s only very slightly, and they’ll head into this match with much less rest. That’s a major factor of the Red Devils have certainly looked overworked lately. However, they are much more closer to full fitness right now and with the Leicester sans some key players, I believe the visitors will get the result they need here.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is 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,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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