Leicester City head to Manchester United in danger of repeating Champions League heartbreak

Foxes travel to Old Trafford on Tuesday knowing they could miss out on top-four place for second season running

LEICESTER RATINGS: Kasper Schmeichel 6 - A great save from the goalkeeper denied a golden opportunity for Newcastle but there wasn’t much he could do about the efforts that found the back of the net. Reuters

Timothy Castagne 4 - The Foxes at least had some chance of getting into the game with Ayoze Perez just introduced but Castagne’s under-hit back pass summed up the game for Brendan Rodger’s defence. AFP

Wesley Fofana 4 - A lack of experience showed at times with Fofana struggling without the leadership of Jonny Evans alongside him. Didn’t do enough against Paul Dummett who rose above the defender to score Newcastle’s second. AFP

Caglar Soyuncu 4 - The Turkish defender was caught out by Callum Wilson’s pace early on before a thoughtless first touch saw him easily dispossessed for by Joe Willock for the opener. A disgrace of a performance from all of Leicester’s back three. AFP

Ricardo Pereira 6 - The Portuguese defender was hardly involved on Friday night before being replaced in the 69th minute. EPA

Youri Tielemans 6 - Could have had a number of assists on the night with every set-piece taken by the Belgian curling fiercely into dangerous areas. EPA

Wilfred Ndidi 6 - Unlucky not to score after glancing wide of the post from a corner but the Nigerian defensive midfielder isn’t really the player you want on the pitch when 2-0 down. Withdrawn for Perez just after the hour-mark. Reuters

Marc Albrighton 7 - The midfielder struck the ball with venom past Martin Dubravka and was unlucky not to pick up an assist with four key passes played at the King Power Stadium. AFP

James Maddison 6 - Asked questions of the defence with passes in behind and looked to be the player most likely to turn the game around while it was achievable. Replaced in the second half with the game out of sight. Reuters

Kelechi Iheanacho 7 - Worked hard with very limited service. The in-form striker linked play well and took his goal expertly when cutting inside and striking inside the near post. Reuters

Jamie Vardy 6 - Got into some good positions through hard work and picked out Marc Albrighton well at the back post for Leicester’s reply. A tough night at the office overall against a stubborn back five. Reuters

SUB: Ayoze Perez (Replaced Ndidi, 64’) 6 - A positive substitute by Brendan Rodgers saw the Spanish midfielder introduced but Newcastle scored immediately. Close to making it 4-3 with a chance in the 91st minute but couldn’t find a way past Dubravka. AFP

SUB: Luke Thomas (Replaced Pereira, 69’) 6 - Worked hard when introduced and stretched play to help the Foxes try to claw back the game. AFP

SUB: Nampalys Mendy (Replaced Maddison, 77’) N/R - The Frenchman was brought on to rest James Maddison but very nearly was part of a comeback with Leicester finding two goals in the last period of the game. Reuters

NEWCASTLE RATINGS: Martin Dubravka 8 - Strong positioning saw Dubravka thwart what looked to be an instant equaliser from Leicester City, palming away Wesley Fofana’s header from a corner. Commanded his area well throughout the game and that was no different in the final stages when getting out quick to stop Ayoze Perez from close-range. Reuters

Jacob Murphy 6 - Stretching play up the right flank helped link some good attacking moves with Murphy and Callum Wilson proving a difficult task on the night for the Leicester defence. Reuters

Emil Krafth 6 - The Swedish defender didn’t make any errors and slotted well into a Newcastle back three which got the better of two proven Premier League forwards for the most part on Friday night. Reuters

Federico Fernandez 6 - Dealt well with the majority of balls into the box and didn’t look phased by Leicester’s strategy of looking to scoop the ball over the backline. Reuters

Paul Dummett 7 - The defender’s first goal of the season saw the Welshman rise above Fofana to head past Kasper Schmeichel. A solid display. Reuters

Matt Ritchie 6 - An excellent delivery from the corner helped Dummett head home for Newcastle’s second and the Scottish defender dealt well with the Foxes moves down the left flank. Reuters

Joe Willock 7 - The on-loan Arsenal midfielder can’t stop scoring at the moment and the 21-year-old made a difficult finish look easy when slotting past Kasper Schmeichel for the opener. Substituted with what looked to be a hamstring injury in the 77th minute. EPA

Jonjo Shelvey 6 - Transitioned the ball quickly and organised the midfield’s shape well while acting as the anchor. The 29-year-old didn’t have much to do defensively with Leicester often playing direct into the box. Reuters

Miguel Almiron 6 - The Paraguayan showed different sides to his game on Friday night as he battled well in midfield, winning a number of tackles. Reuters

Allan Saint-Maximin 6 - Saint-Maximin’s presence seemed to make Leicester oblivious to the threat of Callum Wilson in behind. The Newcastle star looked best when picking up the ball from deeper positions but he really should have scored after his partner put the ball on a plate for him in the first half. Reuters

Callum Wilson 9 - Wilson’s precise run found space early in behind Leicester’s defence and that proved to be the precursor to a game where the striker rarely put a foot wrong. The Foxes couldn’t handle the 29-year-old who scored a well-taken brace and should have had an assist. AFP

SUB: Sean Longstaff (Replaced Willock, 77’) N/R - Introduced to help see the game out for the visitors. AFP

SUB: Joelinton (Replaced Saint-Maximin, 84’) N/R - A good option from the bench to help defend out the lead from the front. Reuters

SUB: Jeff Hendrick (Replaced Almiron, 88’) N/R - The experienced Irish midfielder helped calm down a Newcastle defence who looked frantic after conceding two goals in the last ten minutes. Reuters

Manchester United had rarely enjoyed a Schmeichel blunder so much. It was the 98th minute of the final game of last season when Kasper Schmeichel failed to dribble the ball past Jesse Lingard and the substitute slotted the ball into the empty net.

Leicester 0 United 2; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side were bound for the Champions League and Leicester, ever-presents in the top four since August, finished fifth.

There is a growing threat that history will repeat itself. Not for Lingard; that may forever remain his last goal for his first club. Nor for United, already guaranteed a top-four finish. But for Leicester, the pacesetters who may be caught on the line once again.

They have been in the Champions League places after 69 of the last 71 Premier League games; it will become 70 of 72 on Tuesday but as their last three games are against United, Chelsea and Tottenham, they could soon be leapfrogged.

Friday's shambolic 4-2 defeat to Newcastle had unwanted parallels with last summer's 4-1 defeat to Bournemouth; it was also Leicester's 35th league game and looked the banker in their run-in. Then Jonny Evans scored an own goal. This time around, he was injured in the warm-up. "I have always said he is the brain in our defence," Brendan Rodgers said on Friday.

Minus Evans, Caglar Soyuncu turned in a sadly brainless performance against Newcastle; it felt a sequel to his sending-off against Bournemouth. He will be charged with bringing more reassurance and reliability at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Soyuncu’s anti-climactic ending to last season is another unfortunate precedent. Then Leicester finished without him, Ben Chilwell, James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira.

Now Harvey Barnes, James Justin and perhaps Evans will not play again. Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans’ form tailed off last season. Now Jamie Vardy only has two goals in 23 games. Pereira has not got back to his best after injury.

Leicester 3 United 1: FA Cup quarter-final player ratings

Once again, their fate could be determined by the stand-ins. Wes Morgan, Luke Thomas and Hamza Choudhury started against United last July. George Hirst, who is now on loan at Rotherham, was sent on in a final throw of the dice.

There had been the sense that Leicester have had more strength in depth this season but it faces further examination. Rodgers has adapted intelligently to their absentees. But the 3-5-2 that has enabled Kelechi Iheanacho to partner Vardy has worked less well of late.

They have conceded first in their last three games, even though their opponents were Crystal Palace, Southampton and Newcastle.

Chances have been squandered. Fortune favoured them when Southampton were wrongly reduced to 10 men in the 10th minute (Jannik Vestergaard’s red card was subsequently rescinded). It may do again.

Solskjaer has vowed to field a weakened team; those who have started both against Roma and Aston Villa are less likely to begin tonight's game. It could spare Leicester a date with Bruno Fernandes, while their former defender Harry Maguire is injured anyway.

And they have fond memories of their last meeting with a below-strength United side. "The last time we met, we knocked them out of the FA Cup," remembered Ndidi. It was only in March. Leicester's outstanding away record, featuring 10 wins and a 5-2 thrashing of Manchester City at the Etihad, ought to offer more optimism.

But United made up a 14-point deficit to overtake them last season. Chelsea have already come from nine behind to advance beyond them now. Leicester may need seven points to seal a top-four finish.

A week that could bring their maiden FA Cup win may instead lead to one with a familiar sense of heartbreak, of a season that promised so much delivering less.