Manchester United vs Leicester LIVE: Premier League latest score and goal updates as Marcus Rashford benched despite Cristiano Ronaldo absence

04/02/2022

Manchester United welcome Leicester City to Old Trafford in the Premier League this afternoon in desperate needs of three points to boost their hopes of a top four finish and Champions League football next season.

Ralf Rangnick’s side endured more misery before the international break when the Red Devils were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid. Rangnick is now out of contention to win a trophy this season, but his job as interim can still be regarded as a success if they can land a top four finish, but Arsenal’s form means United have little room for error. Harry Maguire will look forward to a better reception in front of his club’s fans after being booed by a minority of England supporters, with Rangnick adamant United supporters will get behind their captain: “He knows my position towards him. He’s been a very valuable player for the team. I didn’t understand what happened at Wembley but it won’t happen in our stadium with the Red Army.”

And Leicester will be keen to finish the season on a high after Brendan Rodgers’ found some form last time out with the win over Brentford taking them into the top half. The Foxes will look to use their league games as a platform to boost their chances of winning the Europa Conference League, having eliminated Rennes in the last 16 and their quarter-final tie against PSV coming up next week. Follow live updates from an intriguing evening kick-off in the Premier League with live goal and score updates, build-up, analysis and reaction from Old Trafford:

Man Utd 0 – 0 Leicester

15 mins: Manchester United win a corner that Luke Shaw swings into the box. Leicester head the ball out as far as Bruno Fernandes who slides a pass into Anthony Elanga. He floats a cross back into the middle where Timothy Castagne and Scott McTominay both attempt to reach the ball. Castagne wins and nods it clear.

Man Utd 0 – 0 Leicester

12 mins: Harvey Barnes looks keen today. Twice now he’s cut inside from the left and received the ball in a central area. Both his shots have come from just outside the box and both efforts have been pulled wide of David De Gea’s goal.

Man Utd 0 – 0 Leicester

9 mins: Anthony Elanga makes a decent run in behind and darts into the middle as Fred attempts to thread a pass through Leicester’s back line and set up a chance for the youngster. Nampalys Mendy sticks out a leg and intercepts the ball before kick starting Leicester into an attack of their own.

Man Utd 0 – 0 Leicester

6 mins: Luke Shaw picks up the first yellow card of the game for a late tackle on Manchester United’s left side. James Maddison curls the free kick into the middle of the box but Bruno Fernandes is back to complete his defensive duties and clear the ball up to Jadon Sancho.

Man Utd 0 – 0 Leicester

3 mins: The Leicester free kick is whipped into the box and headed safely onto the roof of David De Gea’s goal.

The United keeper puts the ball back in play and the home side work it nicely down the right side. Paul Pogba comes across to help out Diogo Dalot and Anthony Elanga and when Bruno Fernandes joins the party they sweep down the wing.

Kick off: Man Utd 0 – 0 Leicester

Man Utd get the game underway and win a free kick as Bruno Fernandes is closed down quickly just inside his own half. Diogo Dalot attempts to thread the ball down the right side and gives it away to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. He slides the ball across to Harvey Barnes and the winger drives the ball down the line. He takes on the Manchester United right-back and wins a free kick for Leicester.

Manchester United vs Leicester

The players make their way out onto the pitch. This is a big game for Manchester United. Top four is the only remaining target for them and three points tonight will keep the pressure on Arsenal and Tottenham ahead of them.

Kick off is next.

Manchester United vs Leicester

Manchester United have a difficult run of games that they will need to win if they want to finish in the Champions League spots at the end of the season.

Ralf Rangnick says that they will take it one game at a time but understands that United’s fate isn’t in their hands. He said:

“It’s one game at a time but obviously we cannot afford to drop points anymore. To start with [against Leicester], we have to try everything to win the game tomorrow but even if we do so, it’s not only in our own hands because Arsenal are four points ahead, have one game in hand against Chelsea, but we also have some difficult games.

“Our focus is on the next game, which is Leicester. Not an easy game, they had a good run recently with three wins out of the last four games and a few injured players coming back so we are fully aware that this is a good opponent but we are also aware that if we perform well that we can beat them, quite like West Ham or Tottenham.”

Manchester United vs Leicester

James Maddison has scored 13 goals and been directly involved in 20 in all competitions, which are both more than any other Leicester player this season.

Manchester United vs Leicester

Only three teams have a worse Premier League away record this season than Leicester, who have picked up just 12 points on their travels with three wins, three draws and seven defeats.

Leicester have kept just one clean sheet away from home in this season’s Premier League.

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