Manchester United and Leeds take their rivalry to Dublin on Wednesday for the first football match staged at Croke Park since the Republic of Ireland’s meeting with France in November 2009.
And it could be a special occasion for Marcus Rashford with the England international poised to make his first United appearance since December 2024. Rashford, who has made 426 appearances for his boyhood club, fell out with former boss Ruben Amorim and was sent on loan to Aston Villa and then Barcelona, with whom he won La Liga after an impressive season at Camp Nou.
His future remains uncertain but he is likely to get the chance to impress Michael Carrick when United come up against their neighbours from along the M62.
Carrick’s men arrive on the back of a mixed pre-season, having lost their opener to Wrexham before thrashing Rosenborg 5-0, beating Atlético Madrid 2-1 courtesy of a Bryan Mbeumo brace and drawing 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain.
Daniel Farke’s Leeds have been the more consistent of the two, winning three in a row including a 2-0 defeat of RB Leipzig last time out and victories in the United States over Liverpool and Sunderland.
Defender Joe Rodon enjoyed the win over Leipzig ahead of what is expected to be a good season for the West Yorkshiremen.
“It was good to be back in front of the fans,” Rodon told LUTV. “We know they are a top team, a Champions League team, so we knew it was going to be a difficult game but I thought we started strong and quick.
“The Premier League is the fastest league in the world so we wanted to come out with intensity and I thought the boys did that. There is stuff we have been working on. I think if we are playing this system, we’ve got to be a bit more flexible. I thought we kind of worked them out a little bit early on, they weren’t kind of jumping and sliding so we wanted to exploit the space.”
Leeds have made some good signings this summer with Harry Wilson and Tarik Muharemovic moving to Elland Road, along with the club-record £40million acquisition of goalkeeper James Trafford.
Rodon added: “Obviously we spent a lot of time together in the States. It’s an amazing dressing room, so easy to come in. It’s a credit to the boss and Ethan [Ampadu], it’s an amazing environment, amazing changing room so we want to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible straight away. The new signings have settled in very quickly.
“I think we have worked really hard and, you know, it’s been relentless in the first three weeks. But we always want to be one of the fittest teams, or most prepared teams. So it is looking good, we are building minutes, ready to go into the season hopefully firing.”
Team news for Man United v Leeds
Matheus Cunha and Senne Lammens have rejoined United’s squad after recovering from illness, while Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Benjamin Šeško are also with the group in Ireland. Mason Mount is a doubt but both Bruno Fernandes and Youri Tielemans could start after coming off the bench against PSG.
Leeds will be without left wing-back Gabriel Gudmundsson due to a hamstring problem. Ilia Gruev remains sidelined due to a knee injury.
Expected line-ups for Man United v Leeds
Manchester United: Lammens; Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro, Shaw; Andrey Santos, Tielemans, Diallo, Fernandes, Cunha; Mbeumo
Leeds: Trafford; Muharemovic, Rodon, Bornauw; Bogle, Justin, Ampadu, Longstaff; Wilson, James, Calvert-Lewin
How to watch Man United v Leeds: TV and online streams
Manchester United versus Leeds kicks off at 7.30pm on Wednesday night. It is being shown free-to-air on ITV1.
It can also be streamed on ITVX or via the club’s respective in-house TV channels, MUTV and LUTV.
Stats for Man United v Leeds
- Manchester United and Leeds have met 115 times, with United winning 50, Leeds 27 and 38 matches drawn.
- United have won two, drawn one and lost one of their four pre-season friendlies so far, scoring eight goals along the way.
- Leeds have won three straight matches in pre-season, including a 2-0 win over RB Leipzig.
- Croke Park’s capacity of more than 82,000 makes it the largest venue either club will have played at this pre-season.
Prediction for Man United v Leeds
Leeds have been the tidier side through pre-season, but United’s front line has started to click, and Mbeumo’s early form should be enough to see off a Leeds side who will keep this close.
Prediction: Leeds 2-3 Man United
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