Tactical Analysis | How Manchester United almost stopped the Leicester juggernaut

How they started

Manchester United (4-1-4-1): David De Gea (GK); Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo; Michael Carrick; Jesse Lingard, Marouane Fellaini, Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial; Marcus Rashford

Louis van Gaal made just one change to the team he fielded in the FA Cup tie against Everton on Monday. Timothy Fosu-Mensah was replaced by Valencia at right back, and it seemed like a risky move from the outset considering how Leicester City primarily use their left wing in build-up play.

Leicester City (4-4-2): Kasper Schmeichel (GK); Danny Simpson, Wes Morgan, Robert Huth, Christian Fuchs; Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante, Daniel Drinkwater, Jeffrey Schlupp; Shinji Okazaki, Leonardo Ulloa

The Tinkerman has not really tinkered with his team's lineup for most of the season. He once again fielded an unchanged lineup from the one he used against Swansea City in their last game. With Jamie Vardy serving his suspension, Ulloa led the line alongside Okazaki.

1. The game of space

Two of the reasons for Leicester City's success have been how particular they have been about their gameplan, and how well they have executed it. There is no rocket-science involved in their buildup play.

With their best player, Rihad Mahrez, playing on the right, most of their initial buildup often comes down the left side of the pitch. Leicester always look to overcrowd their left wing, which forces their opponent to shift men to that side of the pitch – which in turn opens up space for Mahrez on the right wing to exploit. Then in the blink of an eye, the likes of Daniel Drinkwater or Marc Albrighton would switch the play with a cross-field pass, and Mahrez would have acres of space in front of him to exploit. Today, however, Manchester United gave them a dose of their own medicine.

Louis van Gaal opted to use Antonio Valencia as the right back, and the former Wigan winger doubled up with Jesse Lingard to put Leicester fullback Christian Fuchs on the backfoot from the start. Most of United's moves in the opening 30 minutes of the match came down that side of the pitch. As Leicester countered it by moving bodies to their left wing, it opened up space on the right.

It was no surprise that United's goal was created from the right wing, and was scored by a man who was left unmarked on the opposite side of the pitch.

There were early warning signs as well. In the third minute, Lingard drifted on to his left foot and drifted in a cross at the far post, where Simpson left Martial unmarked. However, the Frenchman made his run a bit too early, and the off-side flag was raised.

Just four minutes later, Schlupp was caught out of position and it turned into a 2-on-1 situation on the right wing.

Rashford made an intelligent cross-field from the deep, which drew Simpson's attention. The Leicester City right back tracked him into the box leaving his flank open for exploitation. Wayne Rooney and Martial made runs towards the far post, and Drinkwater opted to mark the United skipper. This left Martial completely free, and when Valencia picked him out with the outside of his right peg, the Frenchman ghosted in and applied the finishing touch.

2. Rashford and Fellaini's partnership stretching Leicester City

Marcus Rashford might not have had too many shots on target in this game, but the youngster made some vital contributions in the first half with his off-the-ball movement. His movement, which dragged Simpson out of his position, created the opening goal, and few minutes later he nearly repeated that feat. Fellaini, who was deployed more like a target-man upfront for players around him to feed on the second ball, caused the usually solid partnership of Huth and Morgan a lot of problems in the air. His aerial prowess combined with Rashford's intelligence nearly created the second goal for United in the 14th minute.

After the initial press down the right wing, United shifted their focus to the left and nearly caught Leicester off-guard. Marcus Rojo got free down his side and the left-back drilled in a delightful ball at the far post. Rashford made another cross-field run, and this time it dragged Leicester's left back Fuchs out of his position. With Fuchs emptying his post, Fellaini was left unmarked inside the box, and the midfield had all the time in the world to pick out Lingard with a cushion header. Luckily for Leicester, Kasper Schmeichel made a world-class save to keep his team in the game.

3. No Vardy, no outlet

While Leicester City have made a name for themselves, and are on the verge of winning the title, based on their austerity measures in terms of possession, they nearly bit off more than they can chew at Old Trafford today. In the first half of the match, United nearly had 80% possession of the ball, and one of the biggest reasons for this was the absence of Vardy upfront.

The Englishman is not only Leicester's biggest goal-threat, but defensively he is also their most useful outlet. Numerous times this season, Leicester City would clear the ball from the back with long and hopeful punts, and Vardy would use his pace to get possession of the ball and relieve the defence of its pressure.

With Leicester defending with two banks of four, and both the banks dropping deep into their own half, the front-two were left isolated. Ulloa and Okazaki do not possess the pace of Vardy, and this meant whenever they were cleared their lines, it only resulted in United getting back the possession.

They were looking to use the pace of Schlupp on the left wing, with Morgan once picking him out with an immaculate cross-field pass from the back. However, Valencia and Lingard's attacking intent meant Schlupp had to spent most of his time on the pitch running towards his own goal, rather than from it.

4. The match was there for United's taking, but they did not

In the second half, Leicester City put on a much better performance, one which showed the grit and determination that Ranieri had installed in his squad. They pressed much higher up the pitch, and closed down United with more gusto. Kante and Drinkwater put in a lot of effort to move out wide and protect their fullbacks whenever the need arose. With United solely reliant on their wingers for creativity, they could afford to do that. In fact, Leicester shifted to a 4-5-1 formation defensively after United made those changes.

Wayne Rooney dropped deep for United in this game, with Fellaini moving forward. This meant United lacked creativity through the middle in their attack. Louis van Gaal brought on Juan Mata and Ander Herrera late in the second half to compensate that, but despite the change in personnel, there was no change in approach. United were still putting in crosses from the wings, only this time they did not have Fellaini to win the ball in the air. This time there was Mata competing with the likes of Morgan and Huth in the air—it was like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Despite going down to 10-men, Leicester were able to hold on to the draw – with a quality of character that the Old Trafford crowd had witnessed so many times in their home team under Sir Alex Ferguson.