Two of this season's most pleasant surprises will clash on Saturday when Leicester City host Stoke City at the King Power Stadium. Both sides have performed above expectations so far, with the Foxes all the way up in second place and the Potters in seventh position. Stoke had taken a 2-0 lead at the Britannia Stadium in the reverse fixture earlier this season, but Vardy and Mahrez scored to make it all square. The Potters have lost just one of the seven previous encounters with Leicester.
Leicester lost 2-0 in the FA Cup against Tottenham this week, but although the defeat might have hurt, it definitely improves their chances in the league since they won't have to fight on more fronts. Boss Claudio Ranieri confirmed: "Of course our priority was and is the league. Now we have to play against another good team in Stoke City." However, the Foxes have had problems lately, especially when it comes to scoring goals. They have failed to score in four of the last seven matches, and just once managed to score more than one goal. Jamie Vardy has not scored since December, while Riyad Mahrez has missed penalty kicks against Bournemouth and Aston Villa lately.
Stoke managed to hold leaders Arsenal to a goalless draw at the Britannia Stadium last Sunday, another good result against a top side after having defeated the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea this season. They are just six points off the last Champions League spot, and they really could get there but only if they improve their away form. They have managed to get consecutive away wins just once this season, keeping clean sheets on five occasions out of eleven. Xherdan Shaqiri is struggling with a hamstring problem and might miss out while Geoff Cameron will surely be out with an ankle injury.
Probable line-ups:
Leicester: Schmeichel - Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs - Albrighton, Kante, Drinkwater, Mahrez - Vardy, Okazaki
Stoke: Butland - Johnson, Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters - Whelan, Affelay, Shaqiri, Arnautovic - Bojan, Joselu
My prediction: 1-1 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Leicester win - 2.10
Draw - 3.50
Stoke win - 3.80
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Comments (1)
sharpe
01/23/16, 01:01:51 AM
Really both teams overperforming this season and have been great so far. Maybe this is the point in the season when Leicester results should drop down or at least...
Really both teams overperforming this season and have been great so far. Maybe this is the point in the season when Leicester results should drop down or at least this is what more of the experts expected. This game could go either way I think and I wouldn't be surprised even if the away team triumph in the end.
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