Wayne Rooney has been dropped by Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho for Saturday's Premier League clash with Leicester City at Old Trafford.

The United captain has suffered a run of poor form of late, and United's consecutive league losses to Manchester City and Watford have forced the Portuguese to act.

Mourinho actually defended the 30-year-old in his pre-match press conference on Friday, saying: "Wayne Rooney's form is the same as Manchester United's form." But Jesse Lingard has replaced the skipper in the first XI for the visit of Claudio Ranieri's side, with Ander Herrera also handed a start.

Aside from being occasionally rested, it is the first time Rooney has been dropped by a Manchester United boss since Louis van Gaal left him out against Stoke on Boxing Day.

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Herrera's recall to the Premier League line-up comes after his goalscoring start in Wednesday's 3-1 EFL Cup third-round win at Northampton Town. Marcus Rashford again starts following goals against both Watford and Northampton in the last seven days. There is still no start, though, for vice-captain Michael Carrick.

Man Utd: De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Blind; Herrera, Pogba; Lingard, Mata, Rashford; Ibrahimovic. Subs: Romero, Fosu-Mensah, Rojo, Carrick, Fellaini, Young, Rooney.

Leicester: Zieler, Simpson, Huth, Morgan, Fuchs, Mahrez, Drinkwater, Amartey, Albrighton, Slimani, Vardy. Subs: Hernández, King, Hamer, Schlupp, Okazaki, Gray, Ulloa.

Source:Goal.com