Manchester United will renew hostilities with their age-old adversaries Leeds when they travel to Elland Road hoping to keep the momentum gained from their 2-0 win against Brighton on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet after six games without a goal as United moved back into fourth but they cannot afford to drop more points as top-four rivals Arsenal and Wolves lurk with games in hand.
Marcelo Bielsa has gone three games without a win as relegation continues to threaten Leeds who could sink as low as 17th depending on results this weekend.
Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming fixture.
How to watch Leeds vs Man Utd
Date: Sunday 20 February
Kick off time: 2pm BST
TV Channel: Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Ultra HD
Live Stream: Now TV. A reduced £25 rate per month is being offered to new subscribers
Team News
Injuries have played a big part in Leeds’ decline this season and Bielsa is still without the influential trio of Patrick Bamford, Liam Cooper and Kalvin Phillips for Sunday’s game.
Phillips suffered a hamstring injury during a 2-2 draw against Brentford in December and aims to be available in March alongside club captain Cooper.
Bamford still has no return date scheduled after he suffered an injury setback the same game as he suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury when celebrating his equaliser.
More on Premier League
Edinson Cavani is set to miss another match despite returning to training on Thursday due to a stomach problem alongside his recovering groin injury. Third-choice ‘keeper Tom Heaton is also unavailable.
Ralf Rangnick confirmed that Raphael Varane is available after missing Tuesday’s win due to illness, while Eric Bailly and Nemanja Matic are also expected to be passed fit to play.
Leeds predicted line-up (4-1-4-1): Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Struijk, Firpo; Koch; Raphinha, Forshaw, Rodrigo, Harrison; James.
Man Utd predicted line-up (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Fred; Sancho, Fernandes, Rashford; Ronaldo.
Iconic match-ups
Man Utd 6-2 Leeds (Dec 2020)
United hammered Bielsa’s men 6-2 thanks to braces from Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes when the sides met for the first time in the Premier League for 16 years. That final result wasn’t that bad for the visitors considering they trailed 5-1 at half-time.
McTominay opened up the scoring with a low driven shot outside of the box and soon followed up with a defence slicing run to tuck the ball into the bottom right corner. Victor Lindelof and current Leeds winger turned centre forward Daniel James, were also on target for the Red Devils.
Man Utd 0-1 Leeds (Jan 2010)
Leeds have not beaten United in the league since September 2002, but they did secure a famous 1-0 victory at Old Trafford in an FA Cup tie in 2010 thanks to Jermaine Beckford’s winner.
Then in League One, Leeds went in front after 19 minutes when Beckford clinically volleyed a low shot into the bottom corner and managed to hold firm against a United side containing Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney.
Simon Grayson’s side were eliminating in the next round against Spurs but achieved automatic promotion to the Championship at the end of the campaign.
Leeds 3-4 Man Utd (Mar 2002)
Leeds were one of United’s most dangerous title rivals at the turn of the century and the teams played out a cracking game at Elland Road during the climax to the 2001-02 season.
Future United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored twice, with Paul Scholes and Giggs also on target for the away side.
United led 4-1 but Leeds had the competitive fight to bring the game down to the wire thanks to an Ian Harte free kick and Lee Bowyer’s close range header in the 80th minute.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/qPcm03V
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