Sure Prediction For Today, Sunday 26th July 2020

With so much at stake, an entire season’s work could be undone in Sunday’s make or break fixture, and tensions at the King Power Stadium are expected to be sky-high.

Everything had been looking so rosy for Leicester City in early December last year when the flying Foxes were riding high in second place having exploded out of the blocks at the beginning of the season.

After 16 rounds of Premier League fixtures, Leicester had opened up a full 14-point buffer between themselves and Manchester United in 5^th, and a top-four finish looked absolutely nailed on for Brendan Rodgers’ talented young team.

However, a dismal return of just five wins from 20 top-flight assignments since has seen Leicester’s points lead eaten away and eventually swallowed up by Manchester United, who moved ahead of the Foxes in the table for the first time since last August after their 1-1 draw with West Ham on Wednesday.

United’s turnaround in fortunes in 2020 has been as stark as Leicester City’s decline, though the club’s impressive 13-match Premier League unbeaten run has looked under threat in recent weeks.

With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reluctant to rotate his team, and star players like Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, and Paul Pogba showing signs of burnout, United dropped points in two of their last three games, while performance levels have been noticeably dropping.

United looked second best for large swathes of their 1-1 draw with West Ham in mid-week, and Paul Pogba’s inexplicable decision to handle a ball heading for his face inside the area followed hot on the heels of a number of glaring individual errors in recent weeks.

Leicester, who will have enjoyed a full week’s rest between fixtures ahead of their crucial final day clash, should be armed with enough energy to make life very tough for their exhausted looking visitors on Sunday.

While the Foxes’ results have ranged from the wonderful to the miserable in recent weeks, Leicester has looked strong at home of late, taking three wins and four cleans sheets from their last quartet of Premier League fixtures at the King Power Stadium.

United looked dead on their feet on Wednesday, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will fear that his team will be out-worked and overrun on Sunday in their most important game of the season.

With the Red Devils looking short of fire, Leicester look excellent value in the double chance market this weekend, though our correct score prediction tips the teams to eventually finish level at 1-1.

While Leicester are certain to be fresher, their lengthy list of injury absentees that include key first-team players James Maddison, Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira should prove significant, while Caglar Soyuncu’s absence through suspension should also be hard felt.

Recent meetings between Leicester and United have been incredibly tight, with a single goal plundered in each of their last two encounters. With so much on the line on Sunday, another tense, nervy affair is anticipated, and a 1-1 draw looks a likely outcome.

United starlet Marcus Rashford was his team’s match-winner in each of the Red Devils’ last two clashes with Leicester, netting both goals in Man Utd’s successive 1-0 wins over the Foxes last year.

On Sunday, the England international will be deployed in direct opposition to Leicester City stand-in right-back James Justin.

While Justin remains a player of potential, he has been a significant downgrade on the injured Ricardo Pereira, and the 22-year-old has looked more than a little ropy in a number of City’s recent fixtures.

Rashford, who was poor against West Ham in mid-week, will hope to be a talismanic force from the left-hand side on Sunday in United’s biggest game in years.

Leicester City will be without key quartet James Maddison, Ben Chilwell, and Ricardo Pereira and Caglar Soyuncu for Sunday, though Brendan Rodgers will hope to have the versatile Marc Albrighton back in contention.

Christian Fuchs and Daniel Amartey are also sidelined, though neither would have expected to feature even if fit.

 Leicester City predicted line-up: Schmeichel – Bennett, Morgan, Evans – Justin, Tielemans, Ndidi, Thomas – Perez, Barnes, Vardy

Axel Tuanzebe, Phil Jones, and Eric Bailly are still out for United, though Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will give Luke Shaw every chance to recover from injury at left-back.

The Norwegian has been reluctant to make changes his team in recent weeks, and United could well be unchanged from their mid-week tussle with West Ham, bar Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s likely promotion from the bench.

Manchester United predicted line-up: De Gea – Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Williams, Matic, Pogba, Fernandes – Greenwood, Rashford, Martial