How do you preview MUFC anymore?
These man continuously drop the unexpected on us especially when we don’t see it coming: away to Liverpool = superb win. Home to the worst side in PL history = draw and lucky not to have lost it.
What should we anticipate in this Battle of the Roses encounter?
This is a Leeds side that have turned a corner in recent weeks to a point where they are unrecognizable. Some may see they could be slight favourites for this clash 👀.
Whatever the case is, one thing that’s guaranteed is if we don’t show up, we will lose.
Predicted Lineup
Amorim did say that there were no fresh injury updates however, no one who has been out recently will return.
Disappointing because we’ve seen what a drop off there is from the first team to the second. We NEED these guys back asap!
Lammens
Martinez, Heaven, Shaw
Dalot, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dorgu
Zirkzee, Cunha
Sesko
It’s difficult to predict Amorim’s teams because there’s always some surprises and as per these last two matches, we don’t know whether he’s going to start with three or four at the back.
As you can see, I’ve just stuck with three because this was how we lined up against Wolves.
It was confusing due to the fact that we played pretty well in that first half against Newcastle in a 4-3-3 only for him to revert to his beloved 3-4-3 and se our performance fall apart in the second half. That underwhelming performance continued in the draw to Wolves as United were awful all game.
Maybe he’ll, change to two at the back for this one 😭.
That is also not a team I trust because it’s kinda shite. It once again has more defensive players than attackers and we know Amorim always subs on defenders making us even more defensive. Bafflingly, he does this even when we’re chasing a game.
I don’t see that changing either.
Approach
A defensive lineup suggests a defensive style of play. Is it what I want to see? No. But I do presume to see it.
In a way though, I wouldn’t mind it because it’s a style of play and against a Leeds side who are beaming with confidence, it’s perhaps not the worst idea. With them having played on Thursday night as well, that should mean that United are fresher having had two days extra rest.
However, throughout the season, playing one game a week hasn’t really made much difference as we still look like we’re half asleep and drop silly points anyway.
Leeds are also a side that has a lot of intensity which is something else that we can use against them.
While Daniel Farke’s side are said to be more possession-based, they don’t average high amounts of it with just 46%. Not necessarily what we want to see as we perform better against sides with more of the ball. Being away from home though, that should mean Leeds on the front-foot which can allow us to play the more pragmatic game.
Even still, United play with more defenders than attackers but concede a lot of stupid goals nonetheless. This then begs that question once more of why does Amorim play with three at the back?
Similarly to Wolves, Leeds aren’t the best at crosses. They concede a lot of chances and goals from them. Against Chelsea, Brentford and Sunderland, they conceded just one goal each. All came from crosses with Chelsea and Sunderland both scoring at the back post. An area for us to exploit.
We don’t necessarily cross the ball that much nor do we do so with much quality which is something we need to improve upon desperately. Given the fact that we have a striker that’s the best part of 2m tall and great in the air, makes this even worse.
United also concede a lot of avoidable goals to a point where it isn’t difficult for opposition’s to score. Amorim’s team might be good at set-pieces but we’re also awful when it comes to defending them.
Leeds have a weakness with crosses and defending the back post. So do United. Wolves scored from a corner via an unmarked player at the back post. All 4 against Bournemouth were avoidable and while the strikes from Morgan Rogers were brilliant, not getting tight enough was what allowed him to get the shot off in the first place.
The manager deciding to sit back and invite the pressure particularly when we’re a goal up also adds to this concession of goals. When we’re ahead and on the front-foot, we need to continue the momentum because this team definitely cannot see out a game while a goal up. Newcastle was the exception but if we’re being completely honest, they should gotten at least a draw.
That game was also just our second clean sheet of the season.
We are so conceding in this game 😑.
I say if we find ourselves a goal up, keep going. Attack is the best form of defense for this United side.
Form
Just three wins in our last 10 sees United still 3 points behind 4th-placed Liverpool indicating just how open (and shit) the quality of the teams are this season.
Despite all of the inconsistencies and complaints, sitting 6th and not far off Champions League football is a blessing.
Thanks to everyone else being shite 🙌.
Scoring is not a problem. 33 is the third-most but conceding 29 is a BIG issue. Only the bottom six have let in more.
United’s record on the road is perfectly balanced with three wins, three draws and three losses. We’ve scored 15 but conceded 16 and have 12 points from nine games putting us 9th in the away table. That is the lowest position of all the big six clubs.
Leeds
The enemy have seen a complete 180 in recent weeks as a run of six undefeated means they are now 7 points above the drop zone!
Daniel Farke was on the brink of being sacked not so long ago now his team are beating Chelsea and picking up draws against Liverpool. It seems that that 3-1 victory over the Blues at the start of December is what got this run going.
Sitting 16th in the table, Leeds have five wins, six draws and eight losses with 25 scored and 32 conceded giving them a total of 21 points. Two of those five wins and three of those six draws have come in these last six games showing just how important their form from the beginning of December until now has been.
In the home table, Leeds are 12th which is above both Chelsea and Spurs. They’ve only lost two of their nine at Elland Road and are actually 3 points behind us in the home table.
With 17 scored, only Arsenal, City, Brentford and United have scored more at home than Leeds.
The crowd at Elland Road will also be rocking as this is their biggest game of the season. With their recent form and our shiteness, their fans will be expecting Leeds to be all over United and perhaps get the win which wouldn’t be entirely unexpected.
More than the results recently, it’s how they played. We know that at home, their supporters have vast amounts of energy which is why Elland Road can be quite hostile. It appears as if their players have played with that same passion and energy as they looked possessed in the 0-0 draw at Anfield which was the first time such a result was achieved since 2023 when United managed to shut out Liverpool at home.
I would back us to beat teams with a lot of intensity but that is with a fully fit squad. Like this, I doubt we’ll be as effective without the likes of Bruno, Amad and Mbeumo.
With an in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin who’s scored 7 in his last seven it means they have one of the performing strikers in the league. He’ll probably score. In these six games, Leeds also scored 12 goals which makes up for 48% of all their goals scored.
Prediction
I’m not sure what to expect from this team anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were 3-0 up by halftime only to require a late goal to salvage a point.
Performance wise, it’s the same. We have the ability to play like prime ‘08 United but then also drop down to last season’s level.
I just have a feeling that Leeds won’t lose. With the recent run and confidence high, being at home and having that rowdy crowd for their biggest game of the season, I can’t see them letting off. The only issue they could have is having to play Thursday night and then Sunday afternoon. We saw what that did to Palace and it worked for us.
2-2 is my final score to start off 2026. Whether that’s a good result or not we’ll have to wait and see.
What are your thoughts ahead of this all-timer of an encounter?
Diogo Dalot | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)