Rooney deserves his place – Van Gaal

The Foxes forward will break Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Barclays Premier League record against United if he scores in his 11th straight game on Saturday.

It is notable, too, that Leicester have only lost against Arsenal in the league this season and their 0-3 win at Newcastle last weekend was Claudio Ranieri’s side’s fourth on the spin in the Premier League.

Despite assurances from manager Louis van Gaal that he is making a “very great contribution”, Wayne Rooney could be forgiven for casting an envious glance at Jamie Vardy when first play second at the King Power Stadium on Saturday evening.

“I only know Denis Bergkamp of as a player who did the same back home when I was manager of Ajax. It’s not so easy to do that”.

The United gaffer also spoke about the danger posed by Leicester’s star player Jamie Vardy, who is now in irresistible form having scored 13 goals already topping the League’s scoring chart by a mile.

“I cannot say that also because these kinds of injuries you cannot predict. I don’t think it is weeks, but I think within two weeks one of the two can come back”.

Not a ringing endorsement – but there’s a chance!

United have the best defensive record in the Premier League, and their gift for last-minute winners has not deserted them. When we play great teams, great champions, I have to see how our team show the tactics – how we react if we lose a goal, and how we react if we score a goal. You always have something you want to be better, as a team and also as an individual player.

There was little will from Van Gaal to discuss last year’s eight-goal thriller, in which United held a two-goal lead twice before going down 5-3.

Asked if Rooney is worthy of his place on merit, Van Gaal added: “Yes, of course”.

Rebuffing any questions about his interest in signing Vardy, Van Gaal explained his thinking behind loaning James Wilson to Brighton for the rest of the season. “It is just fortunate that I’ve been amongst the goals and it has taken me on this run that I never would have thought would have happened but here I am with a chance of breaking it [the record]”.

The former Netherlands worldwide won league titles in England, Spain and Holland, while Vardy’s biggest achievement to date is helping Leicester win the Sky Bet Championship in 2014.

“It is a disappointing result overall and leaves us with a tough game in Germany now, but we believe we can go there and win”, the United captain said.