Luke Thomas says Ruud van Nistelrooy always demands fight from Leicester City as their bid to stay in the Premier League continues against Manchester United on Sunday.

Leicester are six points from safety, sitting 19th in the table, and have lost 12 of their last 13 games in the competition.

They have endured a torrid run at home, losing each of their last six without hitting the net, adding to their troubles.

Despite suffering a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend, it was a positive performance from Leicester, and Thomas believes they can use that as a springboard for the remaining 10 games of the season.

"I think if we can take this into the rest of the season, we've got a real chance of getting some wins and hopefully staying in the league," Thomas said.

"[Van Nistelrooy] demands [fight] every week – week in, week out. We had a change of formation [against Chelsea] and I think that helped us in a way.

"It helped us, and hopefully we can do that again. It was a positive performance coming off the back of the results we've had recently and the performances that we've shown in recent games."

Meanwhile, United sit 14th in the Premier League table, but they have a chance to extend their unbeaten streak to four games in the competition at the King Power Stadium.

They go into this game on a high, having secured their place in the Europa League quarter-finals with a convincing 4-1 win over 10-man Real Sociedad in the second leg of the last 16 on Thursday.

And Ruben Amorim is hopeful their progress in Europe can influence their performances in the Premier League.

"In that context [reaching the last eight], it's also important to give us more energy to continue the season," Amorim said.

"We know that. It's not going to change a lot the idea for the next season, but it will give us more energy to finish the season in a different way.

"It was a really important game for us. We are ready."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Leicester City – Wilfred Ndidi

Ndidi was one of Leicester's standout players against Chelsea despite their defeat.

He contested 15 duels, second only to Patson Daka (19) among Leicester players, but won more than any other player (12). He also won possession eight times and played 12 passes into the final third, another team-high.

Manchester United – Bruno Fernandes

Fernandes has either scored (two) or assisted (one) a goal in each of his last three Premier League games, last doing so in four in a row in April 2024.

He has been directly involved in 25+ goals in each of the last three seasons for United (15 goals, 13 assists this season); one of only three players to have done so for a Premier League club in 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, along with Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland.

MATCH PREDICTION: MANCHESTER UNITED WIN

Manchester United have lost just one of their last eight Premier League away games against Leicester (W4 D3), going down 4-2 in October 2021.

United have already beaten Leicester three times in all competitions this season – they have beaten three sides four times in the same campaign before (Sheffield Wednesday 1993-94, Chelsea 2010-11, Nottingham Forest 2022-23), while the only team Leicester have lost to four times in a season is West Bromwich Albion in 1980-81.

Having been unbeaten in four Premier League games against United over the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons (W2 D2), Leicester have lost their last three against the Red Devils in the competition without scoring.

And they are struggling on home soil at the moment; they have lost each of their last six Premier League home games by an aggregate score of 15-0. No team in English top-flight history has ever lost seven in a row on their own turf without scoring.

Leicester have conceded 998 goals in their 678 Premier League games. They could become the 12th side to concede 1,000 in the competition, and the first to do so in fewer than 700 games.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Leicester City – 25.5%

Draw – 24.5%

Manchester United – 50%