PREMIER LEAGUE THURSDAY: The Striker previews Thursday Premier League game between Leicester v Man U with a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended match stats.

LEICESTER V MANCHESTER UNITED

8pm We have a cracking week of midweek Premier League action, and we finish it on BETDAQ Betting Exchange with a massive fixture as Leicester host Manchester United. There’s been a lot of unrest at Manchester United given the start of the season, and it seems that the owners have hit the panic button with all these big signings. It’s about time you might say, and maybe for the first time they have finally made the right signings. The manager seems pretty happy, and all the players look like they will fit his new system too.

In that sense, it’s going to be a very interesting few weeks watching Manchester United. Regardless of what I may think about the squad in general, Erik ten Hag definitely looks the right man for the job. I would expect to see a lot of changes over the next few transfer windows – there’s a lot of dead wood to get rid of at United, and I see the new manager relying on his new signings a lot over the next while. Things could also get interesting watching Leicester too – could they get themselves into a relegation battle this season?

Their xG figures have been very poor recently and they are probably the one side where you get a little surprise when you click into the relegation market. On paper, it looked like they had a very disappointing season last time after being Top Four contenders, but if you look at the under-lining numbers it should have been even worse. Their start to this season has done nothing to inspire confidence – they have conceded xG figures of 0.97, 3.15, 1.54 and 1.89 while only creating 0.58, 0.71, 0.32 and 1.69. Although they lost at the weekend away to Chelsea, it was definitely their best performance.

It will be interesting to see can they bring that performance into this game. Although United managed to grind out a win away to Southampton at the weekend, they still conceded a bigger xG than they created. It’s still a positive to see United grinding out wins away from home under pressure – that has been something that was lacking over recent years and it was good they didn’t crumble under pressure. There’s definitely a lot of question marks about both sides heading into this game.

The market is expecting goals here. Both Teams To Score is trading 1.61, and Over 2.5 goals is 1.68. Given both sides have made plenty of errors at the back this season, I wouldn’t be rushing to take on the market here. I’m not sure I’d have those prices quite as short though, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a cagey game here. I know backing United has to come with a wealth warning these days, but I’m happy to take a small position on them at 2.12. Leicester have just been so bad that they are there for the taking, and if ten Hag can set up United well here, which he should, they should be able to deal with this average Leicester side who have a long season ahead.

The Striker Says:
Two points win Manchester United to beat Leicester at 2.12 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/LeiMun

MATCH STATS

● Leicester are unbeaten in their last four league games against Man Utd (W2 D2), last having a longer such run against them between 1972 and 1977 (9 games).
● Manchester United lost this exact fixture 4-2 last season – they’ve not lost consecutive away league visits to face Leicester since April 1976.
● Manchester United have scored in each of their last 26 Premier League games against Leicester – only against Fulham (27 between 1964 and 2009) and Arsenal (30 between 1953 and 1968) have the Red Devils had longer scoring streaks in their league history.
● Manchester United have won 10 of their 17 Premier League games played on a Thursday (59%), the best win rate of all teams to have played more than five games on that day.
● Leicester have gone ahead in each of their first two home Premier League games this season, but failed to win either game (drew with Brentford, lost to Southampton). The only team to go ahead but not win any of their first three home Premier League games in a season was Aston Villa in 1992-93.
● Following wins over Liverpool and Southampton, Manchester United are looking to record three consecutive Premier League wins for the first time since last December. The Red Devils have won three consecutive league games in every calendar year from 1987 onwards.
● Leicester City have lost their last three Premier League matches, last enduring a longer losing run in the final five matches of Claudio Ranieri’s spell in January and February 2017. Manager Brendan Rodgers hasn’t lost four consecutive league games since April 2012 when he was Swansea manager.
● Man Utd’s Marcus Rashford has scored more Premier League goals against Leicester than he has any other opponent (6). Rashford has also scored in three of his last four appearances at the King Power Stadium against the Foxes.
● Harvey Barnes has been involved in eight goals in his last six Premier League starts for Leicester City (four goals, four assists). Barnes has found the net once against Man Utd in the top-flight, scoring in a 2-2 draw in December 2020.
● Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in all three of his Premier League appearances on Thursdays (vs Arsenal, Burnley and Chelsea last season). Only three players have played more games on a particular day of the week and scored in every one in the Premier League: Mohamed Salah on Fridays (five), Thierry Henry on Fridays (four) and DJ Campbell on Tuesdays (four).