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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
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Nathan Bliss

We simulated Leeds United vs Manchester United to get a score prediction

Manchester United take on historic rivals Leeds United at Elland Road in the Premier League for the first time since 2003 this weekend.

United will again be without Anthony Martial and Phil Jones against Leeds on Sunday, with forward Marcus Rashford and defender Eric Bailly also injury doubts ahead of the game.

Should Rashford miss out, Daniel James and Mason Greenwood will be waiting in the wings to start in his absence. Dean Henderson is expected to start in goal once again in place of David De Gea.

Leeds will be without three key players against the Reds at Elland Road, with Raphinha and Rodrigo both injured and Liam Cooper ruled out through suspension.

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So, what team could Solskjaer go with against Leeds? And, what could the final score be?

We used FIFA 21 to get a unique score prediction, this is what happened...

We simulated Leeds United vs Man United to get a score prediction

To set up this simulation, we used kick-off mode within FIFA 21 but didn't select a team to control; we then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a prediction.

The AI difficulty was set to legendary, with the line-up updated with the latest transfers, injuries and suspensions.

We predict that Leeds United could set up in a 4-4-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Struijk, Alioski; Phillips; Costa, Dallas, Roberts, Harrison; Bamford.

We predict that Man United could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Henderson; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, McTominay; Rashford, Fernandes, Pogba; Cavani.

Leeds United were largely in control of the game in the first half of this simulation, with United restricted to counter-attacking situations to try and hurt Marcelo Bielsa's side.

But despite having a lot of possession, the Reds were barely threatened in the opening 45 minutes, with the home side failing to register a shot on target.

And just seconds before the half time whistle, Ole Gunnar Solskjear's side made them pay.

Edinson Cavani found some space on the edge of the area and played the ball right to Bruno Fernandes, who took a snapshot from the edge of the area, with the Portuguese's effort arrowing into the bottom corner to make it 1-0.

Bruno Fernandes made it 1-0 (EA SPORTS FIFA)

The second half was a more even contest, with the away side now having long periods of possession of their own.

And unlike the home side, Man United made their possession count.

With 20 minutes remaining, an impressive passage of play involving Fred, Cavani and Rashford saw the ball eventually land at the feet of Fernandes in the area, who smashed the ball past Illan Meslier to double the away side's lead.

Fernandes scored his second of the game to make it 2-0 (EA SPORTS FIFA)

Predicted FIFA 21 score: Leeds 0-2 Man United

Here are the full-time stats.

FT Match Stats (EA SPORTS FIFA)

FIFA 21 predicts that even though Leeds could have more possession overall, Man United will be the more dangerous of the two teams going forward, with Bruno Fernandes on top form.

What do you think the score will be? Have your say in the comments below.

FIFA 21 is out now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, with FIFA 21 next-gen also now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

Additionally, fans who jump into FIFA 21 can also benefit from Dual Entitlement, enabling them to upgrade their copy of the game from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5, or Xbox One to Xbox Series X/S at no extra cost.

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