Leicester vs Southampton: Preview and Prediction
Leicester and Southampton will lock horns with each other in a bottom table clash at the King Power Stadium on Saturday. Both the clubs are winless and require a victory to move into the top half of the table in the 2022-23 season of the Premier League.
Leicester occupies the fifteenth spot in the points table with one draw and one loss from two fixtures in the 2022-23 Premier League season. They have scored four goals so far but have leaked six goals as well.
Southampton too has one draw and one loss to their name and is just a spot above the drop zone. With Everton, West Ham, and Manchester United below them, the Saints require a win to uplift themselves.
Current Form
Leicester squandered a two-goal lead against newly promoted Brentford to share the spoils 2-2 in a home fixture. Timothy Castagne broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute by glancing home his header off a corner kick before Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall doubled the lead thirty seconds after half-time with a scorching low strike.
Leicester lost 4-2 against Arsenal in the next fixture away from home. After being two goals down in the first half, the Foxes got a lifeline in the 53rd minute when Jamie Vardy pressurized William Saliva to score an own goal. However, Arsenal restored the two-goal cushion two minutes later before Leicester James Maddison reduced the deficit to one in the 74th minute. Arsenal managed to score one more goal a minute later as Leicester’s spirited display in the second half went in vain.
Southampton took an early lead against Tottenham courtesy of James Ward-Prowse’s volley from the edge of the box. However, the Spurs took control of the game from then on and thumped four goals past the Saints to win the contest 4-1.
After a goalless first half against Leeds, the home side found themselves on the back foot as the Peacocks netted two goals within fifteen minutes of the restart. Joe Aribo pulled one back in the 72nd minute before Kyle Walker-Peters scored the equaliser in the 81st minute to level the scoreline 2-2.
Head to Head Record
The two sides have squared off against each other a total of 96 times, with Southampton winning 34 games. Leicester had the upper hand in 30 of the fixtures but the Foxes won the last three of the five encounters. The Saints last beat Leicester in January 2020 with a 2-1 scoreline.
Team News
Leicester once beat Southampton 9-0
Leicester played the same starting lineup for two consecutive matches and is yet to taste victory. Manager Brendan Rodgers is likely to make at least one change to the playing XI when his team hosts Southampton.
Dennis Praet can find his name among the starters replacing Your Tielemans in the midfield, who has been linked with a move to Arsenal. Ricardo Pereira remains unavailable due to an injury.
For Southampton, Tino Livramento continues to nurse injury and is out of contention for a berth in the starting lineup. Joe Aribo, who scored a goal off the bench in the previous fixture, may get the nod ahead of Stuart Armstrong. Mohamed Elyounoussi may also make way for Adam Armstrong.
Predicted Starting XIs
Joe Aribo will be eager to score his second goal this season for Southampton
Leicester (3-5-2): Danny Ward; Daniel Amartey, Jonny Evans, Wesley Fofana; James Justin, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Wilfred Ndidi, Dennis Praet, Timothy Castagne; James Maddison, Jamie Vardy
Southampton (5-3-2): Gavin Bazunu; Kyle Walker-Peters, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Jan Bednarek, Mohammed Salisu, Moussa Djenepo; James Ward-Prowse, Romeo Lavia, Joe Aribo; Che Adams, Adam Armstrong
Prediction
Although both sides are winless in the Premier League, Leicester head into the encounter as favorites owing to their star power. However, they have been shaky in the back so we anticipate that Southampton would nick a goal or two.