After a decent start to the season, Leicester City play host to the potential title challengers in Liverpool. The Foxes have often been a bit of a bogy team for the Reds since they returned to the top flight, and will look to make up for two hard-to-take defeats to Liverpool last year.

Without their kryptonite in Jamie Vardy, though, can the Foxes hunt down the Reds and outscore one of the most effervescent teams in the league?

Leicester News

Expect Leicester to stick to a similar line-up to their last games, with Marc Albrighton, James Maddison and Demarai Gray lining up behind Kelechi Iheanacho. The Nigerian forward has struggled at times in the Midlands, and will need to use this time starting up top to displace Vardy for the long-term.

Wilfried Ndidi will play in midfield alongside Nampalys Mendy, who appears to be revived under Claude Puel. In defence, Wes Morgan will likely start with new signings Filip Benkovic and Caglar Soyuncu likely not ready to play just yet.

Liverpool News

Jurgen Klopp made clear after their fraught win against Brighton and Hove Albion that changes would likely be coming after naming the same line-up for three games on the spin. For this game, expect to see Jordan Henderson returning to the line-up, with Giorginio Wijnaldum the most likely one to miss out.

Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will start up top too, but we could see Daniel Sturridge given a game. Naby Keita might not start, either, having quickly shown signs of fatigue in the Brighton match amid acclimatization to the league.

Verdict

We can see an away win coming: Leicester are a good side, though, and will definitely cause them problems. This is likely to be the biggest test of Alisson Becker’ early Liverpool career: if Liverpool can win their fourth game on the spin, it’ll be the first time in the Premier League era they have won all four.

After what could only be described as a shambolic away loss to Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester United need to find form – and fast. With a poor transfer window only matched by the non-entity that Tottenham endured, how will two sides lacking in fresh legs show up here?

Manchester United News

It’s hard to tell how United will line-up this year: Jose Mourinho has found a unique habit of chopping and changing. Whatever happens, expect Paul Pogba to start in the middle of the pitch, with any mixture of midfielders likely to come in alongside him. Alexis Sanchez is likely to be out, so we could see Anthony Martial play another game – or indeed Marcus Rashford, who should now be fit enough to play.

They’ll need more out of Romelu Lukaku, who was anonymous at times last time out. Expect Mourinho to ring the changes.

Tottenham News

Spurs have started the season well, with two wins against Newcastle United and Fulham respectively. While the stadium delay has put a mild dampener on things, they look well placed to have a good season despite the lack of signings.

Expect a similar – if not identical – line-up to the Fuham win. Harry Kane will likely be paired up with Dele Alli again in a second-striker role, while we can expect to see a return of some of the Spurs FIFA World Cup stars.

There’s not a great deal of change to make with Spurs at the moment, so expect a consistency and solidity to their line-ups as the season develops.

Verdict

Quality counts, and we can see both teams having enough quality to cancel each other out. We’re going to call this as an exciting and intense draw, with both teams likely to score – and both equally likely to concede.

Manchester united might not have finished the season with silverware, but there were some quite remarkable improvements compared with the previous season. To begin with, Jose Mourinho’s men ended the season as runners
up, four positions up from what they had managed in 2016-2017. United also had 81 points, 12 more than the previous season. Other remarkable achievements included conceding fewer goals while scoring more. Winning the FA cup would have allowed United end the season on a high, but Chelsea made sure it wasn’t to be.

The start of the season looked very promising for united, with six out of seven wins in their first matches. However, their defeat at the hands of Huddersfield and then Chelsea seemed to set Mourinho’s men back, and soon it became clear that they would have to play catch up to eventual title winners Manchester City. Indeed, City’s win over United in December was enough to make Mourinho admit that all hope of winning the title was now probably over.

The team’s form during the second half of the season seemed patchy, with pundits and fans questioning the coach’s tactics at times. His conservative approach led to the defeat to Sevilla as United crashed out of the Champion’s league. His team selection also proved divisive. That said, though, there were still some very good days for Mourinho this season, with the win over rivals Manchester City at Etihad standing out.

That United are serious title contenders next season is something many people will question. As it is, Pep Gurdiola’s men are still the clear favorites. The arrival of new players in the summer will, of course, boost the team’s confidence. So far, Mourinho has signed a few notable names, with Fred the latest entrant into an arguably bland team. But if Manchester United are to mount any serious challenge for the title next year, Mourinho must improve their style of play.

While Manchester United are often expected to challenge for honours, and the Jose Mourinho era has delivered two major trophies so far, it’s fair to say that storm clouds are gathering over Old Trafford. A rather tempestuous pre-season tournament in the USA, complete with poor transfer dealings, means that United come into their season opener with Leicester City in rather irritable mood.

United News

The Red Devils will be short of some key players, with the likes of Antonio Valencia, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial likely to miss out. With Mourinho criticizing Martial for his tardy return from his child being born, and also calling out Valencia for getting injured, there’s not much harmony in the United dressing room at present.

With so many key players missing and a rather quiet transfer window going on, it’s hard to see any surprises for United come the big kick-off barring a total change in the pacing of their transferring dealings.

Leicester News

The Foxes have had a challenging summer, too, with Riyad Mahrez going out the door to Manchester City. With Harry Maguire still likely to move on, too, it’s interesting to see how the former champions handle the expectation of a new season.

Incomings have been quite understated, though, which should help add some life to the way that Leicester play. Disjointed summer windows has led to a chaotic pair of seasons, and it’ll be interesting to see how they handle a quieter transfer window – will it make them more consistent?

Verdict

Hard to say; opening weekends often produce some major shocks. United, though, are in much lower mood than Leicester: any kind of result for the Red Devils, though, will be enough as they try to tread water until their more established names return to the side.