Manchester United v Leicester preview: Jose Mourinho's side seek third straight win

Image: Romelu Lukaku has scored three goals in two Premier League games for Man Utd

Manchester United will be bidding to continue their impressive start to the season when they host Leicester on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho's side have scored eight goals without reply in the Premier League so far, beating West Ham 4-0 at Old Trafford and then winning by the same scoreline at Swansea.

Mourinho said last week that he wants to see if his side "can handle adversity", and is expecting a tough game against Leicester, who won the league in 2015/16.

"I think they are the same team as they were two seasons ago," he said. "Are they going to be champions again? Honestly, I don't think so because there are many teams that I don't think all of them are going to fail. But in terms of their qualities, I think they are the same team and they are playing exactly the same way they played before."

Leicester bounced back from defeat at Arsenal on the opening day of the season to beat Brighton and then win 4-1 at Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup in the week.

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Manager Craig Shakespeare is aware of the test they face this weekend though.

"It will be a massive challenge but we look forward to that challenge," he said. "We have had a couple of good results recently and we need to take that confidence into that game, but we know what stands before us."

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Team news

Manchester United have no new injury concerns.

Ashley Young and Luke Shaw returned to action with the Under-23s on Monday but are not yet ready to feature, while Marcos Rojo has been back in training after a knee injury. Despite signing a new one-year deal, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not expected to be fit to feature until after Christmas.

Jose Mourinho says Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not be fit until the second part of the season

Captain Wes Morgan and striker Jamie Vardy could both be back in Leicester's starting line-up. Both players were left nursing injuries following the home win over Brighton but Morgan's back complaint has eased and Vardy is fit again after a foot problem.

Danny Drinkwater (thigh) and Papy Mendy (ankle) have resumed full training while Kelechi Iheanacho has also been able to train, although Shakespeare will err on the side of caution with the striker after his toe injury.

A look ahead to Saturday's Premier League action

Opta stats

Manchester United have lost just two of their 22 Premier League meetings with Leicester City and only one of these came at Old Trafford: 0-1 in January 1998.

Leicester City have scored in all but one of their 15 Premier League matches under Shakespeare and striker Vardy has scored in eight of these games.

Manchester United, who have won their opening two Premier League games by a four-goal margin, haven't won three consecutive league games by such a margin or greater since October 1907.

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Romelu Lukaku will be looking to become the first Manchester United player to score in each of their opening three Premier League appearances for the club.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has already registered four assists in two Premier League games this season, three more than he managed in the whole of last season; the Armenian midfielder could become the first player in Premier League history to assist two goals in three consecutive games if he does it again versus Leicester.

Juan Mata scored for Manchester United in both of their home and away victories against Leicester City in 2016-17, whilst also assisting in their 4-1 win at Old Trafford.

Shakespeare will be the 75th different manager that Mourinho has faced in the Premier League. The Portuguese has won at least one game against 62 of the previous 74.

Merson's prediction

I'm not on the Manchester United bandwagon at the moment. They didn't look like scoring against West Ham for 25 minutes, and they were far from convincing against Swansea until their late flurry of goals. Leicester, meanwhile, have started the season well. They will be dangerous against a United side that are obliged to attack at Old Trafford. I see them putting up a real fight, but United should overpower Leicester in the end.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (15/2 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Manchester United are Sky Bet's 30/100 favourites with Leicester up against odds of 15/2 for the win and 9/2 to leave Old Trafford with a point. Mourinho's men have been trimmed from 7/2 to 9/4 to win the Premier League following their impressive start, while the Foxes remain 250/1 shots to repeat their 2015/16 heroics. Lukaku heads the first goalscorer betting at 11/4 while Vardy is 10/1 to open the scoring.

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