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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

Manchester United predicted line-up vs Leicester as Marcel Sabitzer and Alejandro Garnacho start

Manchester United will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to eight matches in all competitions when they welcome Leicester City to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

United, who have won just one of their last six meetings with the Foxes, will be looking to build on Thursday evening's impressive 2-2 draw with Barcelona in the Europa League and maintain their push for a top-four finish. The Reds are currently third in the Premier League table and, at the time of writing, are five points ahead of fourth-placed Newcastle United.

Victory over Leeds United last weekend marked a return to winning ways for the Reds, following their draw with the same opponent a few days earlier, meaning they will be looking to register back-to-back league wins for the first time since mid-January. Their league form has been slightly patchy in recent weeks.

READ MORE: Erik ten Hag sent a message to prospective United owners against Barcelona

The visit of Leicester, however, will be considered as United's least important fixture in the next week, with the second leg of their Europa League tussle with Barcelona and the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United at Wembley to come. That means manager Erik ten Hag may have to juggle a few factors when naming his starting line-up.

David de Gea, however, is expected to retain his place between the sticks. He has started every Premier League game this season and will be targeting his 10th league clean sheet of the campaign and a first at Old Trafford since the 3-0 win over Bournemouth on January 3.

Ahead of the Spaniard, Ten Hag is likely to make at least one change to his back-four and recall Lisandro Martinez at centre-back. He missed the draw with Barcelona through suspension and is expected to slide back into the heart of the defence alongside Raphael Varane.

That means Tyrell Malacia could drop out of the team and pave the way for Luke Shaw to return to his natural left-back berth. Aaron Wan-Bissaka deserves to keep his place at right-back.

In midfield, United will welcome Marcel Sabitzer back into the fold after he missed the trip to Spain through suspension. He is expected to fill in for Casemiro, who will complete his three-match Premier League suspension against the Foxes. Fred and Bruno Fernandes are expected to complete the midfield-three.

Ten Hag, however, could face something of an attacking conundrum. Marcus Rashford started up front against Barcelona, as Wout Weghorst slotted into an unexpected No.10 role, meaning he could continue as the lone frontman against Brendan Rodgers' side, supported by Jadon Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho.

Weghorst has played a lot since arriving on loan from Burnley last month and could benefit from a breather ahead of the second meeting with Barcelona, where he could be needed from a tactical perspective once again.

United predicted line-up vs Leicester: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Sabitzer, Fred, Fernandes; Sancho, Rashford, Garnacho.

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