- Leicester City visit Old Trafford on Sunday to tackle Manchester United
- The Premier League clash is the sides’ second meeting in two weeks
- ESPN’s Mark Ogden assessed the appointment of Rúben Amorim
- Ruud van Nistelrooy will remain in charge of United for this fixture
The pair meet at Old Trafford for the second time in as many weeks following a 5-2 victory for the Red Devils in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup – Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game in interim charge of the Manchester club.
Now facing off again, this time in the league, the journalist believes City’s attacking threats may be able to cause problems again, while United’s lengthy injury list looks to be improving as several members of the squad begin their return to fitness.
“Although United won the cup tie 5-2, it was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests,” Ogden analysed. “Leicester had chances, had possession and could have scored five as well. It also wasn’t Leicester’s strongest side.
“I think this will be a much closer game. United weren’t very convincing against Chelsea and they are beatable right now. If I was Steve Cooper, I’d be going there with some confidence of getting a result, because United can be vulnerable.
“They aren’t in great form and have got injuries, although players are getting fit again now. Mason Mount and Leny Yoro are back in training and Luke Shaw is not far away.
“But Leicester can look at this game and think that they can get something out of it. It’s different from the Carabao Cup game. They’ll have a stronger team out and can go there with the ambition of getting a point or even a win.”
The imminent arrival of Sporting CP’s Rúben Amorim means that this will be van Nistelrooy’s final game as interim manager, having overseen a 1-1 draw with Chelsea last weekend. Reflecting on the news, Ogden considers it to be the best decision that the club could have made.
“I think it’s a great appointment for United,” he continued. “For the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson left, they’ve got a manager for the right reasons and a guy on the up. He’s got everything - a personality, youth on his side and ambition.
“Players like playing for him, you can see that with his Sporting team. What this United team lacked under [Erik] ten Hag was a connection between the coach and the players. I think Amorim will sort that out.
“When a squad is happy to play for a coach, they play better. That’s a good start but they obviously have problems which go beyond that. Man Utd won’t play like Sporting, because they don’t have the players right now. It will take time but they have someone with a track record of turning big clubs around and making them win again.”
Sporting’s 4-1 triumph over Manchester City earlier this week was some way for Amorim to sign off with the Portuguese club in the UEFA Champions League and he will now be tasked with moving 14th-placed United up the Premier League table.
“The fans are very excited,” Ogden added. “They wanted a change as it had gone very stale at Old Trafford. They see Amorim as someone who can lift the club. Beating Man City doesn’t hurt but it may raise expectations because that isn’t going to happen again.
“You look at the table, and the gap to the top four isn’t that big. It is unlikely but I wouldn’t rule it out. No one apart from Liverpool is having a great season right now. Arsenal have been dropping points, Chelsea are a bit unpredictable, Man City have dropped points too.
“There’s so much unpredictably in the Premier League this season and that helps United rather than hindering them. If United can get some consistency, they can certainly challenge for the top six or a place in Europe. That’s the absolute minimum, really.
“Winning cups is great, but it doesn’t really take the club forward and move it on, we’ve seen that under ten Hag. If Amorim can spark a reaction, the worst might be behind United this season.”