Leicester City vs Manchester City Match Preview and Prediction

By John


 After recording just one win across the opening ten Premier League (PL) rounds, Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers appeared to be teetering on the precipice of losing his job. But winning back-to-back games over Leeds and Wolves by a combined 6-0 scoreline appears to have given Rodgers more time, with the Leicester manager hailing his side as being "collectively very, very good" following their emphatic win in the Black Country last time out.


It will undoubtedly take a huge collective push to topple the irresistible Manchester City, especially after Leicester conceded nine times across the last three PL H2H encounters. Playing at home may provide some comfort for the Foxes though, as Rodgers has overseen three straight PL clean sheets at the King Power Stadium for the first time since a four-game run that ended in July 2020.


Yet a clean sheet against Man City seems something of a pipe dream, especially as the defending champions have combined a rip-roaring attack with a rock-solid defence, although boasting the league's best attack (G36) and the joint-second best defensive record (11 conceded) still isn't enough to top the table. Pep Guardiola has his former assistant, and now Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta to thank for that, but Pep's troops have closed the gap to two points following their 3-1 win over Brighton in the last round.


Perhaps buoying Leicester is the fact that Man City were held to a goalless draw in Dortmund during midweek, although the record-breaking Erling Haaland only played 45 minutes in that match and will arrive here fresh. Man City will likely need that vitality in attack as they've failed to win four of their last six PL away games (D3, L1) and are actually enduring a three-game competitive away goal drought, their longest since Pep Guardiola's first season in charge (2016/17)!


Players to watch: Leicester's Jamie Vardy has only scored more goals against Liverpool and Arsenal than his nine strikes in 18 meetings with City. Trying to outdo him will be Haaland, and City would be 11 points worse off without his 17 goals this season. He will equal Ole Gunnar Solskjær's record as the highest scoring Norwegian in an entire PL season with number 18.

Hot Stat: Leicester have failed to win five of their eight PL games when scoring first this season (W3, D1, L4).

Fottennis Prediction: Leicester City 1 Manchester City 4

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