Manchester United vs Leicester LIVE: Carabao Cup team score and updates as Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge
The Red Devils head into the match with Van Nistelrooy as interim boss after sacking Erik ten Hag
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Manchester United face their first match since the sacking of Erik ten Hag, as they host Leicester City in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday night. The long-winded and inevitable exit of the Dutch head coach came to a head after the weekend following a late defeat to West Ham, which left United 14th in the Premier League.
Already talks to bring in Ruben Amorim as a replacement look significantly advanced, but for this match it will be Ruud van Nistelrooy in the dugout as interim boss.
Trying to capitalise on the situation at Old Trafford will be the Foxes, whose back-to-back league wins were halted last time out by Nottingham Forest - but sat in 15th, just two points behind United, they’ll be happy enough with their season’s start and perhaps sense an opportunity to provide a shock in this fixture.
Follow updates from Man United vs Leicester in the live blog below:
Man Utd vs Leicester
The players make their way out onto the pitch at Old Trafford. This is Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first match in charge of Manchester United and their first game since Erik ten Hag was sacked on Monday.
Can they turn their form around and get a win tonight?
We’re about to find out, kick off is up next...
Ruben Amorim provides update to Manchester United links
Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim is being heavily linked with a mid-season move to Manchester United after the Red Devils sacked former boss Erik ten Hag on Monday.
Sporting defeated Nacional in the Portuguese League Cup on Tuesday evening and Amorim issued a brief statement on the United situation after the game.
He said: “Nothing is decided yet… I don’t know if it’s the farewell game or not.”
Negotiations between the two clubs continue over a compensation package should Amorim depart.
Ruud van Nistelrooy reveals sacrifices of Manchester United return and how ‘culture’ is being restored
Ruud van Nistelrooy has revealed he was shocked when Manchester United approached him to return to Old Trafford in the summer and said he is making sacrifices he would not for any other club.
The Dutchman is set to take charge of United for the first time against Leicester in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie as the interim manager following Erik ten Hag’s sacking.
Van Nistelrooy was added to Ten Hag’s coaching staff as an assistant manager in July, though he admitted they did not know each other before then.
Van Nistelrooy reveals Man Utd return sacrifice and restoration of club ‘culture’
The Dutch coach will be on the touchline as United’s interim manager in midweek
Man Utd vs Leicester
Cooper on Nottingham Forest defeat
Leicester were on a decent run of form before they fell to a 3-1 loss at home against Nottingham Forest at the weekend. It’s a result the manager labelled as a ‘setback’
Cooper explored the defeat in his pre-match press conference saying: “It was a set-back but if you look at the Forest game and the Southampton game, they are probably great examples of what will come in the future this season.
“We will have games where we get really good results and the world feels like a brilliant place and we’ll get the opposite like we had against Forest.
“That’s the nature of the league that we’re playing in and where we’re at. What we’ve got to do is make sure that we stay on task and stay on track, which we are doing. We’re really disappointed with how we let the game slip away from us on Friday because at half-time, it was really there to take advantage and get a win, and we didn’t do that.
“That was disheartening, especially when I watched the game back, but we have to accept it, as difficult as that is, because we never want to accept defeat too easily, but make sure that it doesn’t deter us from the journey that we’re on.
“That journey will be full of ups and downs, there’s no doubt about that. I’ve experienced it before and I know whatever has gone before has only got to be used to make you stronger going forward, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent and that’s what we’re really committed to this week.”
Leicester want ‘to win every game'
Leicester manager Steve Cooper has high hopes for his team and says the target is to ‘win every game’ they play starting at Old Trafford tonight.
“The difference with this one is that it’s an away game and then we go away again to Ipswich at the weekend, so it’s times like this where it’s good that you have a squad,” Cooper explained when addressing team changes.
“It gives you decisions to make and, if we feel like we need to, utilise the squad over the two games, then we will do that.
“It’s one game at a time. We want to win every game that we play and all focus is on tomorrow and making sure we really commit to what is required to make it a positive night.
“We’re striving every day to improve and knowing that when we get to the levels we know we can get to, it will be really positive.”
What Ruben Amorim needs to do at Man Utd
Order some shooting practice
Ten Hag will have cleared out his office on Monday thinking about what could have been had his players scored some of their first-half chances at West Ham on Sunday.
That has been United’s biggest Achilles heel so far as they have failed to make their dominance count in games.
Only Southampton and Crystal Palace have scored fewer than them in the Premier League so far, so the new manager must find a way for his players to be more clinical.
What Ruben Amorim needs to do at Man Utd
Provide a clear identity
A big criticism during the Ten Hag era was that there was no identity to his United side and it was a mystery as to how they would set up from one game to the next.
The new manager must change that and provide a team with an obvious personality and defined character – preferably one that attacks and plays on the front foot.
What Ruben Amorim needs to do at Man Utd
Sort out form
It is the most obvious place to start, but Ruben Amorim will be expected to turn results around quickly.
Erik ten Hag was ultimately fired because he was simply not winning enough games and the new man must hit the ground running.
He will inherit a side 14th in the Premier League after four defeats from their opening nine games and struggling in the Europa League.
More from Van Nistelrooy
The Man Utd interim boss continued saying: “Despite our results, I am loving being back at Old Trafford and working with the team and staff every day. We’ve seen the squad’s potential at times this season, but clearly not often enough.
“When I returned in the summer as Erik’s assistant, it was because I believe that Manchester United can climb back to the levels that I knew here as a player. I still have that belief, but it will take time and a lot of hard work.
“The first step is to restore the winning habit, starting at Old Trafford this evening. I know first-hand the positive effect that our wonderful fans can have on the team, so please get behind the players as we fight together to move a step closer to Wembley.”
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