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Three Key Battles: Where Leicester’s Title Clincher Versus United Will Be Decided

By on April 29, 2016

Premier League leaders Leicester City visit Old Trafford on Sunday knowing they can clinch a historic league title with a win. Here are three key battles where the match will be decided:

Anthony Martial v. Riyad Mahrez

Anthony Martial has been Manchester United’s only unbridled success in a season tarnished with disappointments, and having unlocked Everton’s back-line in a fantastic FA Cup semifinal display last weekend, he will be a key for United on Sunday.

Louis van Gaal recently claimed that the twenty-year-old is a winger as opposed to an out-and-out-finisher due to his searing pace, but there is no denying that he is the hottest forward United have at the moment and it will take a momentum of magic to unlock Leicester.

Opposite the Frenchman is Riyad Mahrez, who was recently crowned PFA Player of the Year, and will be Leicester’s chief playmaker on the right.

The last time Leicester met United, Jamie Vardy famously broke a Premier League record by scoring in his twelfth consecutive game, but the forward is currently serving a two-match suspension for lashing out at the referee in Leicester’s draw with West Ham United a week-and-a-half ago.

Ranieri, once known as “The Tinkerman” had become comfortable with Leicester’s starting lineup and has made as few as twenty-seven changes to it so far this season, but was forced to re-think his lineup ahead of Leicester’s meeting with Swansea City last weekend.

The Italian started Jeffrey Schlupp ahead of mainstay Marc Albrighton on the wing to compensate for Vardy’s pace and replaced Vardy with Leonardo Ulloa up top.  The move emphasized Ranieri’s tactical acumen as Schlupp set up Ulloa for Leicester’s third goal in a comprehensive 4-0 victory.

Although Mahrez’s form has waned somewhat in recent weeks, the Algerian scored Leicester’s first goal against Swansea and will once again be vital if Leicester want to make history on Sunday.

Smalling v. Huth

Conversely, how each side set up to stop the other will be equally important.  Although it might seem counter-intuitive, Leicester could be better served avoiding defeat and prevent the sowing of a possible hint of doubt, as opposed to going all-out for the win (though Claudio Ranieri would undoubtedly disapprove of such a sentiment).

A draw, in fact, would leave Tottenham Hotspur in need of a win over Chelsea on Monday to prevent the Foxes from synching the title, and away at United, it would serve the visitors well to draw full-backs Christian Fuchs and Danny Simpson slightly further back to counteract Martial’s pace.

United, being five points behind Arsenal and Manchester City in fifth place, are desperately in need of the three points and will pull out all the stops to break down Leicester’s back-line.

Ranieri’s back-line has significantly improved over the course of the season, keeping twelve clean-sheets out of their last nineteen matches from not a single shutout in their first nine games.  Shifting from Nigel Pearson’s back-three to a tight back-four has been one of Ranieri’s major renovations at the King Power Stadium and has thus far paid dividends.

The onus to subdue Martial will rest upon the shoulders of former United youngster Danny Simpson, who will have an unrivaled opportunity to secure an especially sweet victory, on what is lining up to be a momentous occasion which every way the result falls.

Mata or Fellaini?

Louis van Gaal has the potential to decide the outcome of the match with a major decision in the midfield, whether to start Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata or Ander Herrara.

Long has Wayne Rooney accepted his role in the midfield under Van Gaal and Morgan Schneiderlin has been a mainstay behind the Englishman in a holding midfielder role.

The third starting position in midfield in United’s 4-3-3 (shifting into a 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1 in defense), has been highly contested and eventually comes down to United’s opponent.

Against Everton last weekend, Van Gaal started Fellaini in the midfield to act as a battering-ram to break his former club Everton apart, but he may be better served favoring Mata or Herrera’s more subtle talents in order to splice apart Everton’s back-line.  Van Gaal might also consider starting Mata out wide right in favor of Jesse Lingard, whose pace will be mitigated by Leicester’s tight defensive setup.

Alternatively, Fellaini would test Leicester’s aerial prowess and Van Gaal will bear in mind that it was Bastian Schweinsteiger’s header that broke Leicester’s tight defense the last time these two teams met, in a 1-1 draw.

Either way, it will be a fascinating tactical battle in Sunday’s early-kickoff and will likely mirror the opposite tie earlier this season, a tight, cagey affair.

Homepage photo credit: Parrot of Doom (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.