Louis van Gaal is a party pooper. He wants Manchester United to beat Leicester City this Sunday (Watch live, 11:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN and online via Live Extra) at Old Trafford.
Au contraire.
[ MORE: How are Leicester here? ]
Van Gaal, 64, wants his side to beat Leicester this weekend so they can have an even bigger celebration at the King Power Stadium the following weekend against Everton when they will likely win the Premier League.
He’s a sly old fox. No pun intended.
Anyway, with United pushing for a top four finish after winning six of their last eight games in the PL, Van Gaal is adamant his team must win on Sunday to deny Leicester the one win they need to secure the title.“I think we have to beat Leicester because we are still in the race for the first positions, so we have to beat them,” Van Gaal said. “We cannot allow that they are the champions this weekend at Old Trafford. I think they shall be the champion a week later, so we don’t spoil the party, just postpone it a little bit.
“I was the first who said that they could be champions and now a presenter [Match of the Day’s Gary Lineker] has to wear underwear when they are the champions. For me it is not a surprise; I say that many, many times. I believe in team building and the manager has done that with this team. They had the circumstances to play always with the same team as they did not play so many matches as the other teams in the league, so it is always possible. It is good for the Premier League and the sport of football that not always the same teams are the champion.”
With Leicester missing Jamie Vardy, plus United losing just once at home against Leicester in the league in the last 44 years, the Red Devils will be confident of dashing the Foxes title hopes. At least for this week.
[ MORE: How will USMNT line up this summer? ]
Wayne Rooney is back to his creative best, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are looking razor sharp and David de Gea is on top form. You would think United could win this and significantly boost their top four hopes.
Then again, this is Leicester. This season they’ve proved that just when you think you have things figured out, they surprise you again.
Not LVG, though. He will have his party hat and streamers ready just in case...