Having escaped the relegation zone, Leicester City will look to build on their resurgence when they welcome Manchester City to the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
The Foxes recorded successive wins for the first time this season after claiming victories over fellow relegation-threatened strugglers Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers while keeping clean sheets.
An own goal from Robin Koch and a Harvey Barnes strike was enough for the Foxes to soar past Leeds. The win over Wolves was more emphatic as Leicester put four past José Sa courtesy of goals from Youri Tielemans, Barnes, James Maddison and Jamie Vardy.
Collecting maximum points from their last two games has seen Leicester shoot out of the drop zone, but they hold only a slender two-point lead over Leeds, having played one more game.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have been ticking the right boxes with their recent performances, keeping three consecutive clean sheets in the league.
Despite losing their last three league meetings with Saturday’s opposition, the Foxes will feel confident of coming away with a positive result from their clash with the reigning champions, especially after seeing off the Cityzens to secure the Community Shield last season.
Pep Guardiola’s side secured qualification to the Champions League knockout stage despite being held to a frustrating goalless draw by Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.
City dominated proceedings amassing 73% possession, but they failed to make their chances pay and sometimes looked in danger of conceding with their hosts failing to convert their only big chance.
Their draw came off the back of a 3-1 league victory over Brighton & Hove Albion courtesy of Erling Braut Haaland’s brace before the break and Kevin De Bruyne’s second-half strike.
City were impressive but were made to work their socks off for the result with the Seagulls dominating possession.
They have won just one of their last four games in all competitions and will be desperate to return to winning ways, especially as league leaders Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton, reducing the gap at the top of the table to two points.
Match Preview
Leicester City
Leicester have lost nine of their last 11 League meetings with City (W2) and their last three in a row.
After keeping clean sheets in their last three outings, Leicester could record four shut-outs on the bounce for the first time since November 2019, while they could also win three league games in a row for the first time since January 2021.
Vardy’s 79th-minute strike against Wolves last time out ended his awful 11-game scoreless streak in the league and earned him his 100th Premier League goal since turning 30.
The Englishman has scored eight league goals against City and has only netted more against Arsenal (11) and Watford (9).
Maddison has recorded 15 goal contributions in his last 14 league appearances, with ten goals and five assists. Since the start of that run, only Harry Kane (16) has been involved in more goals among English players.
Manchester City
City have won their last three away league games against Leicester without conceding, with their last defeat at the King Power coming on Boxing Day in 2018.
Since Guardiola took charge of City in 2016/17, no side has scored more league goals against the Cityzens than Leicester (17), despite the Foxes losing nine of their 12 games against them during this time.
City have also won just two of their last six away matches in the league (D3, L1), losing their last game on the road against Liverpool. The Cityzens last suffered back-to-back away defeats in the competition in May/August 2021.
Riyad Mahrez will be looking to continue his stellar form against his former side, having scored in each of the last three league seasons against Leicester (three goals, all at the Etihad Stadium).
Only Chris Wood (4) has scored more goals against the Foxes, having previously played for them in the competition.
Haaland has scored 17 goals in 11 league games for City this season which is already the joint-second most goals scored by a Norwegian player in a single campaign since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 1996/97 (18).
Haaland’s goals have been worth 11 points so far, the joint most for a City player in a single campaign since Raheem Sterling in 2017/18 (also 11).
Leicester City vs Manchester City Predicted Line-ups
Leicester City (4-1-4-1): Danny Ward; James Justin, Wout Faes, Daniel Amartey, Timothy Castagne; Boubakary Soumare; Harvey Barnes, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Youri Tielemans, James Maddison; Patson Daka.
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo; Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne; Phil Foden, Erling Braut Haaland, Bernardo Silva.
How to Watch?
Leicester City vs Manchester City, alongside all other fixtures in England’s top flight, is available to watch online via live Premier League streams.
Leicester City vs Manchester City Prediction
Leicester’s newfound defensive solidity will be tested by a side that have scored the most goals in the league this season.
Despite the enormous gap in league standings, we expect a tightly contested affair with City edging the Foxes.
Leicester City 1-3 Manchester City
