Gary Neville was quick to clock it, and sure enough it soon become apparent after kick-off that Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick had opted to once again field the "strange" attacking formation he has recently become accustomed to.
With Cristiano Ronaldo out through illness, Marcus Rashford on the bench and United's other forward options unavailable, Rangnick again turned to his hybrid '4-2-4/4-2-2-2' that was seen in the 4-1 defeat to Manchester City last month.
Neville wasn't a fan of it back then either, saying: "It's strange when you look at Manchester United's shape and see where (Paul) Pogba and (Bruno) Fernandes are, almost as two centre-forwards with (Anthony) Elanga and (Jadon) Sancho either side.
'When you think of what Manchester United had at the start of the season to call upon - (Anthony) Martial, (Mason) Greenwood, Rashford, Ronaldo and (Edinson) Cavani - none of them is here on the pitch today for various different reasons."
The former United defender and Sky Sports pundit would continue with his questioning of the system before the Leicester game, saying: "You see Manchester City play with (Kevin) De Bruyne or (Phil) Foden in that false nine position, and I think Manchester United feel as though they can do that with Bruno," Neville.
"But for me, Bruno is not that type of player, he is more of a passer and not a runner.
“You saw it away at Manchester City that it did not work, but today we will see how it goes. Elanga and Sancho are going to have to play as split strikers almost and make those runs in between the centre-backs."
But in a performance that Neville would go on to describe as "pathetically slow", that didn't exactly happen.
Here's how the attackers fared on Saturday.
Bruno Fernandes
Nominally the most forward of the quartet, it was Fernandes who was effectively the False 9 from the start of the game, but that position doesn't really make the most of his many talents.
Fresh from signing his contract extension, the Portuguese was frustrated by much of the play taking place behind him, forcing him to come deep and thus leave a gap in a central striking area.
Fernandes did have United's best chance in the first half when he was clean through on Schmeichel, but it took the introduction of Rashford to get him on the ball and involved.
Anthony Elanga
The least involved of the attackers who started the game, it was Elanga who had had the fewest touches of the ball by the time Rangnick decided he needed to change things up early in the second half.
The Swede is clearly a gifted player and someone who is highly rated at the club, but he looks to be another who can appear a little bit lost in this setup.
Paul Pogba
On paper this might well be Pogba's perfect position, or at least the one that he thinks would be his best.
But it reality it just looks so different.
The Frenchman looked laboured and sometimes a little confused over whether he should be part of the midfield or the attack, and so he ended up largely doing neither as Fernandes occupied the central role ahead of him.
he was briefly dropped back into midfield with Rashford's introduction, although you get the sense Rangnick doesn't really trust him there.
Jadon Sancho
Perhaps the one of the four who should be least affected by the formation, on paper Sancho should have the licence to cut inside and shoot as he did for that fine goal against City at the Etihad.
As ever though, the England man is missing the influence of a full-back who can truly bomb along on the outside of him. That is largely why he has been switched to the left, but Luke Shaw was booked, subdued and later substituted here.
Sancho still possesses the ability to shine, but he and several of his teammates aren't really helped by the setup.
