Leicester City might at last turn their attention to their uninspiring League run as they have now secured a qualification to the Champions League knockout stages. While the Foxes qualified from the top spot of the Group G in the Champions League, they have experienced a plummeting Premier League run at the other end.
Leicester currently sit in the 14th position, collecting only 12 points from 12 games and their next opponent, Middlesbrough, are unlikely to give them any kind of positive vibes. Leicester haven’t beaten Boro in the Premier League since 2000.
Although Middlesbrough lost their last game against Chelsea, Karanka’s men have been very disciplined and organised in their game. They showed good resilience against tough opponents like Arsenal and Manchester City, salvaging an away point on each occasion.
But Boro are also winless against Leicester in their last 12 league meetings. They had suffered a heavy defeat in the hands of the Foxes back in 2000, which ended 3-0.
Defence
Claudio Ranieri deployed his best four at the back against Club Brugge to assure the qualification. All have fortunately come out unscathed from the game, which means Ranieri is expected to start with the duo of Wes Morgan and Robert Huth in the middle of the defence.
While Leicester’s defence has been phenomenal in their Champions League campaign conceding only 1 goal in 5 matches, it has been an elephant skating on ice in the Premier League. They have conceded 20 goals in 12 matches in the league.
Christian Fuchs will keep his place at left-back and Danny Simpson is expected to start on the right-flank. Both Huth and Simpson are currently on 4 yellow cards and would need to take precaution.
Midfield
While it may seem now that the duo of Danny Drinkwater and Andy King have clicked, it is very difficult to predict their performance in the league. Leicester have really struggled in this position, lacking any kind of creativity or dangerous movement in the opponent’s half.
Ranieri started with Daniel Amartey in their 2-1 loss to Watford and we expect King to start this time. The flanks will be taken up by Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton, with the latter likely to start on the left. Albrighton wasn’t at his best against Watford but was quite effective against Brugge.
Attack
Ranieri is expected to stick with his deploying of two at the front, rather than putting one centre-forward behind the striker. Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki was quite threatening against Club Brugge which was a far cry from how they played against Watford. With Leicester’s top scorer Islam Slimani still doubtful, Vardy and Okazaki are expected to start.
