Manchester City are targeting the top of the table when they take on Leicester City at the King Power Stadium although they could be without their behemoth striker Erling Haaland upfront.
City bounced back from their defeat to Liverpool two weeks ago in style with a 3-1 victory over Brighton while the Foxes dismantled lowly Wolves 4-0 last weekend in the Premier League.
LEI vs MCI Match Details
Date: Saturday, 29 October 2022
Time: 12:30 (BST) / 17:00 (IST)
Venue: King Power Stadium, Leicester
LEI vs MCI Match Preview
Manager Brendan Rodgers would not have wanted to face Manchester City at a time when Leicester City are getting their mojo back with back-to-back victories in the Premier League for the first time this season. The Foxes have also not conceded a single goal in the last four having not kept a clean sheet in the first game of the season, letting a gigantic 24 goals in that period. Summer signing Wout Faes is to be praised for his contribution in bringing solidity at the back, stepping in for the injured Jonny Evans and also replacing the departed Wesley Fofana. With injuries still causing issues, the team seemed to have found lost belief in themselves in the last few games. Harvey Barnes is looking like more of his former self before his injury scoring in consecutive games while Youri Tilemans also reasserted himself by scoring a screamer in the 4-0 trouncing of Wolves in the previous game. James Maddison, keeping the heat on Gareth Southgate for selection in the upcoming World Cup, continued his brilliant form by making his eight-goal contribution in 10 matches while Jamie Vardy also made a wholesome impact from the bench in the win. It helped the team to climb out of the relegation spot to 17th easing a lot of pressure on them that piled up for a disastrous start to the campaign. However, the celebration of rejuvenation could be dented with the champions visiting the town with a lot of firepower even though top scorer Erling Haaland may not be fit to make the trip. Rodgers will take note of City not scoring in the last three away games in all competition, something unusual for the team but the Foxes themselves haven’t scored at home in this fixture since 2018 which is also the last time they managed a win here. Leicester, though, have managed to stay unbeaten at the King Power this month and only lost twice at this ground this season. The Foxes will hope they can carry on their momentum and make it another hard game for Man City on the trip.
Manchester City did not like the sight of Erling Haaland unable to carry on the second half of the Champions League outing against Dortmund midweek, ended goalless, with a knock and also some reports of fatigue setting on the striker because of the brutal schedule ahead of the World Cup. Signing from the German club in the summer, Haaland has taken no time to settle in the Premier League scoring 17 goals in just 11 matches only failing to strike against Liverpool and Bournemouth in that period. It will be a blow to not have the mammoth goal-scorer for the trip to Leicester in a game they are aiming for three points to leapfrog Arsenal, at least momentarily, to the top of the table. City are currently on 25 points in the second two points off the Gunners. There is the added anxiety of not scoring in the last three games on the road with or without Haaland, two times in the Champions League and the 1-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League. Finishing chances has been an issue in all of those games with Riyad Mahrez also missing spot-kicks in both the games in Europe. The champions did score 99 goals without a striker leading them last season so this barren run is not expected to continue if the Norweigian gets ruled out at the weekend. That defeat too was done to one error from Joao Cancelo allowing Mohamed Salah for a free run at goal otherwise City have been unstoppable throughout. Pep Guardiola’s men have also won the last three away games in this meeting, conceding none and managing to score four goals. City’s incredible record in this meeting points to their ninth victory of the campaign even if Leicester are finding the steps back to their best. Nevertheless, one win in four games will bring the best out of Pep Guardiola’s men as they have done in past occasions in situations like this.
Recent Form (all competitions)
MCI: DWLDW
Recent Form (league)
LEI: WWDLW
MCI: WLWWW
LEI vs MCI Team News
Pep Guardiola revealed Erling Haaland will be accessed in the training session leading up to the game to know his availability. The Norwegian was withdrawn with a supposed knock on his feet after only the first half of the Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund. He also suffered a fever before meeting his old side as was Joao Cancelo. If the 22-year-old does not start against Leicester on Saturday, Julian Alvarez is tipped to lead the line if Guardiola opts for a striker in the game otherwise any of the forwards could slot in the false-nine position. The Argentinian striker actually started alongside Haaland in the midweek game. Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are both ruled out of the fixture. Ederson is expected to guard the sticks again having rested in the European fixture.
Leister City manager Brendan Rodgers said that Wilfred Ndidi has returned to training with the squad and has looked fine after his hamstring injury earlier this month. The midfielder has to wait for his opportunity to get into the starting eleven as his replacement Boubakary Soumare has done a decent job for the Foxes in the last four games. Rodgers also remarked that center-back Jonny Evan’s calf issue will be accessed this week. Marc Albrighton was back last weekend from his illness and is in contention for this game. Ryan Bertrand is recovering from his knee injury while Ricardo Pereira is out till February of next year with an Achilles injury. Jamie Vardy could come back to the starting lineup for his exploits in big games and his eight goals return in this fixture in 15 Premier League meetings.
LEI vs MCI Predicted Lineups
LEI: Danny Ward; Castagne, Faes, Amartey, Justin; Boubakary Soumare; James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Harvey Barnes; Jamie Vardy
MCI: Ederson; Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Aymeric Laporte; Bernardo Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish
LEI vs MCI Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Ederson (6.5)
DEF: Cancelo (9), Dias (9), Faes (9), Castagne (8)
MID: Maddison (9), De Bruyne (9), Tielemans (9), Barnes (9)
FW: Foden (8), Haaland (9)
Vice-captain: De Bruyne
Captain: Erling Haaland
