Leicester City are back in FA Cup action on Friday evening, taking on Ruud van Nistelrooy’s former club, Manchester United.
The Foxes will be given a brief reprieve from the struggles of Premier League football when they travel to Old Trafford on February 7th.
Leicester City beat Queens Park Rangers pretty convincingly in the last round of the FA Cup but now face a much tougher test.
Manchester United have already beaten the Midlands outfit on two occasions this term and ironically, it was Ruud van Nistelrooy who was at the helm.
The Dutchman should be well aware of the daunting task that now awaits him when Leicester face Man Utd given he had a close-up seat to watch the Red Devils turn them over in the Carabao Cup before doing so again a couple of fixtures later in the Premier League.
If the Foxes, who are on a run of eight defeats from nine in the Premier League, are to see off United, they will likely need to change things up.
James Justin could be given new Leicester City role vs Manchester United
While there are many, one of Leicester’s main issues this term has been the number of goals they are conceding.
They have shipped 53 in 24 league matches across 2024/25 so far – only Southampton (54) have conceded more.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 16 |  EvertonEverton | 23 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 28 | -5 | 26 |
| 17 |  WolvesWolves | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 34 | 52 | -18 | 19 |
| 18 |  LeicesterLeicester | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 25 | 53 | -28 | 17 |
| 19 |  IpswichIpswich | 24 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 49 | -27 | 16 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 24 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 18 | 54 | -36 | 9 |
We have already discussed Leicester’s best eleven if they want to avoid relegation and after a largely poor January transfer window, it does now look to be a back-five formation.
Woyo Coulibably was the only player to arrive over the winter and Van Nistelrooy needs to find a way to fit the right-back into the team.
One way he could do this, while potentially stopping Leicester from conceding so much, is switching to a back five and playing Coulibably as a right-wing-back.
Given the lack of quality, pacey defenders at the club currently, however, it would likely mean that James Justin would need to start as the right-sided centre-back in a three.
What Leicester City fans have said about James Justin
It’s probably fair to say that the full-back is one of the most unpopular players at the club right now and him being deployed as a centre-half is a risk. But it may be needed if Ruud opts for a back-five.
Even after he scored against QPR, Leicester fans mocked Justin, with one writing: “No matter how many goals James Justin scores he still can’t defend.”
This was not the first and probably won’t be the last time he received criticism from supporters in 2024/25.
Leicester fans wanted Justin dropped after a defeat to Aston Villa in January, with one stating: “James Justin must be dropped and another RB brought in! Countless number of points dropped because of his costly mistakes. Ruud sort it and drop him now like you did Ward.”
It’s easy to see why Foxes supporters have turned on the player, but owing to their very quiet winter window, he’s likely to be a regular feature going forward, regardless of form.