All eyes will be on Old Trafford on Sunday when Manchester United hosts Leicester City.
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But Ferdinand, who represented Manchester United in 312 matches from 2002 to 2014, asserted that his successors at the former EPL champions must ensure that Leicester do not win the title at their home ground.
“Now, all we do is talk about Leicester and it is absolutely fantastic”, says Alex van der Beek, an Associated Press reader in Latvia who wrote in to say that the expat community there has rallied behind the team and that pubs in the capital, Riga, are packed for broadcasts of Leicester games.
Another fan, speaking of the rags to riches tale of the club transformed from near-relegation to almost-title winners, says: “Leicester is true testament that If you believe in your dreams who knows where the fairytale may take you”. Tottenham I’m sure will try to win the three games if Leicester do slip but we’ll see. Champions League is all but certain for Tottenham Hotspur. Is José Mourinho going to be taking over at Manchester United?
United will be hoping Dave can save them at least one more time this season to avoid the humiliation of Leicester being crowned champions at their home turf. Manchester United averages a staggering 12% more possession than Leicester, and United’s tally is far lower than expected due to injuries and the changes in system that resulted because of it.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of this weekend… “It’s inspired people to think if Leicester can do it – even if I’m a small guy, even if I’m a small team, we can accomplish anything”.
If you want a sporting comparison which USA fans might be able to use as a marker the then take the New York Mets team of 1969, which won the World Series with a 4-1 win over the 109-win Baltimore Orioles in one of the biggest shocks baseball has ever seen.
Fast forward five years and Italian Ranieri – also a veteran well-traveled coach – has transformed the club in his first season in charge, building on the good work of Nigel Pearson before him. “City still have to play against Arsenal, though, so one of those shall lose points”, he said.
“It’s good for the Premier League and the sport of football that it’s not always the same teams”. He hasn’t rested players when perhaps we expected them to.
Although Liverpool don’t have too much to play for in the league now, that is not the case for a number of other teams.
Asked if Shaw could make the cup final against Crystal Palace, van Gaal replied: “He can, maybe, but it shall be hard because he has to play first a lot of matches in the second team”.
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There was no thought of allowing Villa a free ride and a Mark Robins brace secured a 2-0 win and ensured their biggest rivals would win what was to become the last of their title wins.
