Why is there a Man Utd-Leeds double header?

Manchester United will be facing off against Leeds United on Wednesday night in the Premier League, which is not particularly unusual on the face of it.

Even the fact that they play each other again on Sunday is not too unusual; cup draws often lead to the same fixture cropping up twice in succession.

What makes the current situation very odd, however, is that both games are Premier League matches. United have played 21 Premier League games so far this season and Leeds have played 20, yet they have not faced each other once.

Why is this? And why are both matches between the historic rivals being played just a handful of days apart?

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The Man Utd-Leeds double header explained

The fixture on Sunday, which takes place at Elland Road at 14:00 GMT, was always scheduled to be played on that weekend. It is the Wednesday night match at Old Trafford which is the outlier that has been rearranged.

It was originally supposed to be played in September during the gameweek that got interrupted by the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The matter was then complicated further by United's involvement in the Europa League, as well as their success in the domestic cups.

United have made it all the way to the final of the Carabao Cup where they will face Newcastle and are also into the fifth round of the FA Cup where they will be at home to West Ham. January was jam-packed for Erik ten Hag's side and February is no different as they will play eight times over the month.

For that reason, the Premier League could not rely on a midweek slot being available later in the season as United could also progress in the Europa League. From a security perspective, it is not ideal to have two sets of fans who historically hate each other facing off twice in five days, but there was little choice.

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Who will be the Leeds coach against Man Utd?

This will be the first game for Leeds since they parted ways with American coach Jesse Marsch. While there were often signs that the team was about to gel nicely, the results became too poor for too long to ignore.

That means Chris Armas will be in the dugout at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. The American was part of Ralf Rangnick's staff when he was the Man Utd coach until Ten Hag's arrival.

It is not yet clear who will be their coach for the match against United on Sunday but it would need to be a swift development for it to be someone other than Armas.

Recent Man Utd vs Leeds matches

Since Leeds returned to the Premier League, many of the matches against their old rivals United have been real thrillers. They have certainly been more enjoyable for the team in Manchester, though.

In the 2020/21 season, there was an incredible 6-2 win for Manchester United just before Christmas in which Scott McTominay scored twice in the first three minutes. That was followed that season by a less interesting 0-0 draw.

Last season, there was 12 goals across the two Premier League fixtures. The first was won 5-1 by United at Old Trafford, and the second was a 4-2 victory at Elland Road for what was then Rangnick's side.

On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders & Rob Blanchette discuss United's win over Crystal Palace & look ahead to Man Utd vs Leeds in the Premier League. Marcel Sabitzer & Marcus Rashford are also on the agenda. If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!