Soccer

Leicester hit with triple injury blow for top four run-in

Marcus Rashford relieved as Manchester United return to winning ways at Palace

Leicester City’s Luke Thomas impressed on his debut against Sheffield United and could play a key role in the final two games. Photograph: PA

Fri Jul 17 2020 - 09:11

Leicester City will be without key midfielder James Maddison (hip) and defenders Ben Chilwell (thigh) and Christian Fuchs (groin) for their final two games of the season, hampering their bid for Champions League qualification.

Leicester beat Sheffield United 2-0 on Thursday to stay fourth in the league, ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United, who won 2-0 at Crystal Palace.

The Foxes final two games of the season are at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday and at home to Manchester United on the final day.

All three missed the win over the Blades but manager Brendan Rodgers said their injuries would keep them sidelined for the rest of the campaign while Marc Albrighton (hip) is also a doubt.

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“James and Ben won’t play for the rest of the season, and Marc is doubtful for the weekend but may be available for Manchester United,” Rodgers told reporters.

“Christian won’t be involved now for the rest of the season. He could be actually 12-14 weeks out. It was in and around his groin.”

Leicester already have Ricardo Pereira out of the side with injury while central defender Caglar Soyuncu is suspended for the final games.

“We’ve got a few injuries, we’ve just been unfortunate. So that’s where we’re at,” Rodgers said.

Meanwhile Marcus Rashford was relieved to return to winning ways as Manchester United won away to Crystal Palace on Thursday night.

Rashford netted along with Anthony Martial as United bounced back from drawing 2-2 with Southampton on Monday.

The England forward told BT Sport: “Every game for us now is a big game. Before the Southampton game we were scoring goals for fun, then that Southampton game was a bit more difficult.

“These kind of victories you get a lot out of as a team. We’ve had to work hard to get a result.

“We’re improving and that’s the reason why we’ve scored so many goals in the last few games.”

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