English FA CUP

2025-02-07 - Manchester United vs Leicester City

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Manchester United v Leicester City
Football: English FA Cup Fourth Round
Friday 7th February 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

Manchester United

There was nothing wrong with the way Manchester United started last Sunday, but the team ran out of ideas and were well beaten by the end of the ninety minutes against Crystal Palace. Once again playing at Old Trafford has proven to be very difficult for the Manchester United players under Ruben Amorim, while a bad day became even worse after the injury picked up by Lisandro Martinez.

The defender is expected to miss much of the calendar year after suffering an ACL injury and another setback at Old Trafford means there is some pressure on Manchester United when preparing for this FA Cup Fourth Round tie on Friday. The FA Cup holders had won 4 straight home ties in the competition before needing Extra Time to beat Liverpool in the Quarter Final here last season.

Manchester United followed a disappointing 1-3 home defeat to Brighton by winning 3 in a row in all competitions, although that run was ended in the 0-2 loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday. That result also means Manchester United have lost 5 of their last 7 games at Old Trafford in all competitions, although both exceptions have been victories over Southampton and Rangers.

Luke Shaw suffered a setback in training and is expected to miss more time, while Lisandro Martinez, Jonny Evans and Mason Mount are going to miss out.

Leicester City

Survival in the Premier League means more to Leicester City than anything else, although Ruud van Nistelrooy has made it clear that he wants his team to have a strong FA Cup run. His team selection backed that up in the Third Round win over Queens Park Rangers, but the manager may have changed his mind about the FA Cup after watching his Leicester City team crushed at Goodison Park last weekend.

Once again Leicester City are in one of the relegation spots in the Division, but they can focus on Cup action for a few days at least. The side won away FA Cup ties at Millwall and Bournemouth last season, but Leicester City's run was ended in a 4-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge in the Quarter Final.

Leicester City did win at Tottenham Hotspur a couple of weeks ago, but that result has been surrounded by three Premier League defeats with all of those matches played after the FA Cup Third Round win over Queens Park Rangers. Since coming from behind to win at Southampton, Leicester City have lost 7 of 9 on their travels in all competitions.

Wilfred Ndidi is hoping to be available for selection this Friday. Ruud van Nistelrooy may choose to make some changes to his starting eleven if only to freshen things up after the crushing loss at Everton.

Head to Head

Ruud van Nistelrooy was interim manager at Manchester United for four games after Erik ten Hag was Sacked earlier this season and before Ruben Amorim took over.

He oversaw three wins and two were home victories over Leicester City in the League Cup (5-2) and Premier League (3-0).

Prediction

Two teams who are heading into the latest FA Cup fixtures after disappointing Premier League results might have different levels of importance attached to this tie.

Despite the latest Premier League setback, a quiet transfer window has led to some frustration for the fans of Manchester United and manager Ruben Amorim may share some of those. He has lost some attacking options in the window, but replacements have been hard to find and so there is pressure on Manchester United to find solutions in the final third.

The system has been scrutinised, but Manchester United have found some big results for Ruben Amorim and the inconsistency of this squad has been a long-term problem. Even in Erik ten Hag's system, Manchester United were not exactly trending on a positive trajectory and so some patience is going to be needed.

Former star striker and interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy will be back at Old Trafford on Friday and this time he is going to be in the Leicester City dugout.

Earlier in the season, van Nistelrooy guided Manchester United to two home wins over Leicester City in the League Cup and Premier League and his hopes of having a long FA Cup run with his current club were dented after this difficult tie was set.

An important win at Tottenham Hotspur two weeks ago may have given Leicester City some momentum, but the crushing 4-0 defeat at Goodison Park last Saturday underlines the challenge in front of the Dutchman if Ruud van Nistelrooy is going to keep the club in the top flight. That is the priority and Leicester City may struggle to even compete with this inconsistent Manchester United team as they did in the two matches earlier this season.

Defensively there are still major problems for Leicester City and they were well beaten twice at Old Trafford in the first half of this season and Manchester United may be better equipped to bounce back.

Old Trafford is proving to be a tough ground for Manchester United to play as the squad struggles under the magnifying glass, but Leicester City are a team that will do well to survive in the top flight and the home team can find a late goal or two to put a gloss on the final scoreline.