Manchester City and Leicester City will square off at the Etihad Stadium this weekend in what will be a crucial match between two teams from the top four in the Premier League. Here is our preview of the game.
Manchester City’s Mixed Run of Form
Recently, the team from the blue part of Manchester has been quite inconsistent. The reigning champions still have one of the most potent attacks in the league, but their defensive efforts have been questionable at times this season. The absences of John Stones and Aymeric Laporte at the back have forced Guardiola to utilize Fernandinho as the defender alongside Otamendi.
Last game, though, they have managed to keep a clean sheet away at Arsenal, which is a great achievement. The citizens ran away deserved victors in what was a comfortable 3-0 victory for Guardiola’s men. The absence of Aguero has been adequately compensated by the quality of De Bruyne, Sterling and Gabriel Jesus. For the game against Leicester, City will still be without Stones, Laporte, Aguero and Sane. Nonetheless, there is still a great deal of quality in that team and we should not discount City before the game.
Leicester Have Surprised Again
The opponents for City in this game will be Leicester, who is in fantastic form. We never know what to expect from the Foxes, but this term they have been superb. Vardy has been fantastic again, who has 16 goals to his name already in the league. Man City will have to be careful of the quality that Leicester possesses: Vardy, Maddison, Tielemans, Pereira, Ndidi, Ayoze Perez and Ben Chilwell are all quality players.
Rodgers has done an excellent job since coming to the bench in the summer. The Foxes are undefeated in their last nine games, with their last defeat coming against Liverpool at Anfield. Still, they only have two defeats all season, which is why we should not rule an away win here. Leicester has more than enough quality about them to cause Man City problems, especially with the injury problems of the home team.
An Unpredictable Game
This game could really go either way. Manchester City will want to get a win here to get their title race back on track, but Leicester will not want to lose their ground on Liverpool either. It is quite clear that Leicester has been showing a form of champions, but they are very unlucky that Liverpool is doing so well as the Reds remain unbeaten.
Man City very rarely fail to score at home. This season has been an exception, as they have lost two home games already against United and Wolves. We can expect the home side to be on the front foot looking for openings, while the Foxes will be very dangerous on the counter-attack. City’s games against United and Wolves have taught us not to underestimate the opposition. These big games can always go either way. Leicester will look at City’s team and their form recently and think that anything is possible here. On our site, you can follow our accumulator tips for today here.
