The Round of 16 match in the English League Cup between Manchester United and Leicester will take place on October 30 at Old Trafford. Manchester United vs. Leicester: Prediction and betting, odds, statistics.
Referee: Andy Madley (England)
Matches – 7 (FA Cup and English League Cup, 2023/24–2024/25);
Yellow/red cards shown – 16;
Average yellow/red cards per match – 2.3;
Straight red cards shown – 2;
Average fouls per match – 20;
Penalty kicks – 14%.
Probable lineups for the match Manchester United vs. Leicester
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Altay Bayındır – Jonny Evans, Tobi Collier, Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot – Manuel Ugarte, Casemiro – Christian Eriksen, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony Matheus – Marcus Rashford.
Leicester (4-2-3-1): Daniel Ward – Ricardo Pereira, Conor Coady, Caleb Okoli, Luke Thomas – Hamza Choudhury, Boubakary Soumaré – Abdul Issaaku, Facundo Buonanotte, Bobby Reid – Odsonne Édouard.
The starting lineup for each team is indicated from their last match in this tournament.
Manchester United
The Red Devils have started the new English League Cup campaign in a relaxed and confident manner. At home, the club demolished Barnsley with a score of 7-0. That was their eighth victory in the last nine matches in this competition. During this period, Manchester United only lost to Newcastle with a score of 0-2 – a year ago at the Round of 16 stage. It's worth noting that in the last five editions of this Cup, the Mancunians have taken the gold once – in 2023.
- The club has not conceded in 7 of their last 8 League Cup games.
- Exactly two or three goals were scored in 7 of Manchester United's last 8 matches in this tournament.
- In 7 out of the last 9 League Cup encounters, the Mancunians have won in the first 45 minutes.
Leicester
The Foxes have played two matches in this season's English League Cup, managing to keep clean sheets both times. First, they thrashed Tranmere Rovers at home (4-0), and then they progressed past Walsall on penalties (0-0, pen. 3-0) away. In the previous edition, the club was knocked out of the League Cup in the Round of 32 by Liverpool (1-3). It's also noteworthy that Leicester has reached the quarterfinals five times in the last seven seasons.
- In the last 12 matches in this tournament, the Foxes have only lost twice in regular time (6 wins and 4 draws).
- At least one team did not score within 90 minutes in 8 of Leicester's last 9 games in this Cup.
- No more than three goals were scored in regular time in 7 of the club's last 9 League Cup matches.
Manchester United vs. Leicester: Match Prediction
Bookmakers clearly favor the hosts in this encounter. However, the current form of the Mancunians is not particularly impressive. In the Premier League, the team is in the bottom half of the table, scores few goals, and has at best a decent defense. There are also problems in the Europa League, where Manchester United has drawn all three matches. By the way, after the defeat to West Ham over the weekend, the club's management finally decided to sack head coach Erik ten Hag. Leicester, although not particularly impressive in the Premier League, is not easily beaten by a large margin.
I will also note the statistics of head-to-head encounters. Although Manchester United dominates the matchups with Leicester, they seldom beat the opponent with a convincing result. In the previous 12 encounters in the Premier League and FA Cup, the Mancunians have only won by more than one goal twice. Therefore, I prefer the prediction of "Leicester with a handicap (+1.5)" with odds of 1.78.
