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Match details
Date: 13 February, 2021
Time: 6:00 PM IST
Venue: King Power Stadium
Live Score Update: SportsTiger App
Preview
The weekend’s Premier League action kicks off with Leicester City hosting Liverpool at the King Power Stadium on Saturday. Leicester are three points ahead of Liverpool and will hope to capitalise on the slump in form endured by the reigning champions in recent weeks.
The Foxes have only secured one win in their last four league outings though, and Brendan Rodgers will know that his team should improve if they are to beat his former club.
Key Players
James Maddison (Leicester City) – 29 matches, 9 goals and 10 assists across all competitions
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 32 matches, 22 goals and 4 assists across all competitions
Team News
Leicester City
James Justin is expected to miss the clash against Liverpool after the full-back picked up a knee injury during the FA Cup fifth round win over Brighton. Since Timothy Castagne is also among the absentees, Christian Fuchs should earn a rare opportunity.
Ayoze Perez also picked up an injury in the FA Cup clash and looks likely to join the sidelines consisting of Wesley Fofana, Dennis Praet and Wes Morgan. However, Wilfred Ndidi returned to action in the cup game and could feature again on Saturday.
Liverpool
Although there were slight concerns over the fitness of Thiago and Fabinho, they are expected to be available for selection. Liverpool could hand a debut to Ozan Kabak, which will allow captain Jordan Henderson to return to midfield.
The likes of Naby Keita, Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip continue to remain unavailable due to their injuries.
Analysis
For quite some time now, Leicester City have been punching above their weight in the Premier League. The Foxes have been the closest to breaking the top-six hegemony so much so that they now feel they are in the heavyweight division now. Brendan Rodgers will not shy away from the job he has done since taking over at the club, but he knows Leicester cannot taper off at the end like last season.
Many would argue they deserved Champions League qualification and would have even secured it without the lockdown that enforced a break. Following the resumption, Leicester eventually slipped out of the top-four and were left to think about ‘what could’ve been’. That feeling must have been chastening and as such, the Foxes will be keen to avoid it again this term. For starters, Leicester have put themselves in command. A win over Liverpool will take them temporarily above Manchester United into second-place, but the Foxes have not endured the greatest of form at home.
Even though Liverpool visit the King Power on the back of successive defeats, the Reds still boast a commendable record over Leicester. Not only have Liverpool beaten Leicester in 16 of their last 20 top-flight meetings, but the Reds have also won six of the last seven meetings against the Foxes in the league. Irrespective of what has happened to Liverpool this season, this meeting is far from decided and there are no favourites. In fact, it is probably one of the most evenly poised clashes between the sides in recent memory.
Team 1
Team 2
Probable Playing XI
Leicester City – Kasper Schmeichel (GK); Ricardo Pereira, Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu, Christian Fuchs, Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, Marc Albrighton, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Jamie Vardy
Liverpool – Alisson Becker (GK); Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ozan Kabak, Fabinho, Andrew Robertson, Thiago, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane
Captain 1 – Mane
Vice – Captain 1 – Alexander-Arnold
Captain 2 – Maddison
Vice-Captain 2 - Barnes
Best 14
Goalkeepers: Schmeichel, Alisson
Defenders: Robertson, Evans, Pereira, Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Maddison, Mane, Barnes, Wijnaldum
Forwards: Vardy, Salah, Firmino
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