Manchester United vs Leicester

August 10^th 2018

The 2015–16 premier league winners Leicester City F.C. face Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United team in the opening match of the 2018-19 English Premier League on Friday the 10^th of August 2018. Having had a challenging season for both teams, this match proves difficult and challenging for the bookies. Manchester united finished second in last year’s EPL booking an automatic place at this season’s champion’s league while Leicester barely managed the 9^th position. In their last five meetings, Manchester United won four and the teams managed a 2-2 draw in last year’s EPL return match. Keeping an eye on the pre season matches, united have not quiet achieved their goal with the final match ending in a defeat against Bayern Munich. Asked what he felt, United’s coach Jose warned of a possible difficult season citing some signings challenge. However, not much has changed in terms of the coach’s after match interviews with him being popular of criticism and emphasis on the need to improve.

On the other hand, Kelechi Iheanacho who has been on good form in the pre season saw the team beat the French side Lille in their closing match. The team has proved to do well in the pre season matches showing optimism in the opening EPL season. A lot could happen in this opening fixture with both teams expected to field differently organized teams. Leicester lost their key match winner, Riyad Mahrez to city, a major loss that could prove a major difference for the team this season. United on the other hand have not had a busy transfer window much to say that they have not made major improvements in their squad.

I tip this match to end 2-1 in favor of Manchester United given that they have the home advantage and have previously managed to outdo the foxes. Loosing Mahrez, a key player in the team could also play a major role in this defeat.