Jose Mourinho has labelled Manchester United's Premier League rivals as "privileged" and insists his side have been "punished by the calendar."
The Red Devils site second in the league, 11 points adrift of leaders Manchester City heading into the festive gauntlet of fixtures.
Starting with Leicester away, United face four games in 10 days and Mourinho insists not only are others "privileged" but that United are in the bottom group and most challenged by the calendar.
"We did the simple objective study on that and there is a really big gap between some clubs and other clubs," Mourinho told reporters.
"There are clearly the ones that are really privileged and there are clearly another group of the ones that are really punished by the decisions of the calendar and there are another group in the middle of it where I would like to be.
"I know I would never be in the top group, but in the middle group we would like to be."
After tackling the Foxes at the King Power on Saturday evening, United face home games with Burnley and Southampton before a New Year's Day trip to Goodison Park to face Everton.