Leeds United v Man Utd preview: kick-off time, team news and form
Manchester United head to Elland Road on Sunday 18th October to face Leeds United in the Premier League, with kick-off set for 2.00pm UK time.
It's a fixture United badly need to win. Michael Carrick's side sit 13th in the table with six points from six games, and talkSPORT describes it as a "must win" for an under-fire boss facing his "biggest managerial test" after a chaotic week (talkSPORT). United go into the game without a victory in their last five matches across competitions, as Manchester Evening News notes (Manchester Evening News), while Leeds have had an "impressive start to the season" according to the same outlet (Manchester Evening News) and sit eighth with nine points from six games, unbeaten in three of their last five.
Leeds have won just once in their last five (a 4-1 win over Newcastle) but have picked up draws against Brighton and Crystal Palace, plus a narrow defeat to Arsenal in their last outing. United's run includes draws with Fulham and Tottenham and a loss to Manchester City in the league, as well as cup exits to Brighton and Atlético Madrid. Despite United's struggles, Leeds boss Daniel Farke has been keen to play down any suggestion his side go into the match as favourites, with Sky Sports reporting Farke's view that "Man Utd can't be underdogs" against Leeds (Sky Sports), and Manchester Evening News adding that Farke "dismisses favourites tag against Man United" (Manchester Evening News).
Much of the build-up has centred on Lisandro Martinez. The Evening Standard reports that Martinez "confronted" previous management over his return from injury, according to The Athletic (Evening Standard), while more recent reporting says Carrick insists the matter is "done" with the squad "moving on" (TeamTalk). Sky Sports reports that Martinez is set to be included in the squad for the trip to Leeds after he apologised for his public comments about the club's hierarchy, quoting the defender as saying "we've moved on" (Sky Sports). The Guardian describes Carrick as sticking "to the script" on the issue, with the manager saying it is "really not a drama" (The Guardian). ESPN frames the whole episode as a test of whether there is "chaos to come" for United under Carrick (ESPN).
On the team news front, the Evening Standard reports that Noussair Mazraoui could return having missed the draw with Tottenham, though Matthijs de Ligt is considered unlikely to start (Evening Standard). Carrick has also given a "three-man" injury update ahead of the trip (Evening Standard), while Manchester Evening News reports ongoing checks and says as many as ten players could be in doubt for the match (Manchester Evening News) (Manchester Evening News).
There have been no past meeting details provided for this fixture in the information available, but both sides will see this as a chance to build momentum in the league in what is being billed as a Roses derby by the Evening Standard.
You can follow all the action from Elland Road from kick-off at 2.00pm UK time on Sunday 18th October.
Written with the help of AI, using the match facts and the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
